What do you get when you put together a pope who died under mysterious circumstances, a cardinal tasked with electing a successor, and an all-star cast? Well, if you guessed Conclave, Edward Berger’s follow-up to All Quiet on the Western Front, you’d be correct. Before the end of the 2024 movie schedule, we’ll be treated to a new political and religious thriller about that very thing, and we’re incredibly excited based on what has been released thus far.
Below is everything we know about Conclave, the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation that will surely check all the boxes for fans of thrillers, conspiracies, mysteries, and Ralph Fiennes performances. Let’s look into what could very well be an Oscar contender before it’s all said and done.
What Is The Conclave Release Date?
If you’re trying to see Conclave on the big screen this fall, you’re in for some good news as Focus Features has set a release date of November 1, 2024, in select markets, with a nationwide rollout starting the following week (November 8, 2024). Edward Berger’s new movie will premiere in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2024.
Conclave will kickstart what is to be a busy month at the box office, as everything from Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 to Jon Chu’s Wicked adaptation and so much more is slated to open before the big Thanksgiving weekend at the end of November.
The Conclave Cast
When Conclave takes to the big screen later this year, it will feature some of the most talented and beloved actors on the planet right now. Let’s meet the cardinals and nun who’ll be leading the Conclave cast.
Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence
According to Empire, Ralph Fiennes will be atop the Conclave cast as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, the high-ranking Vatican official tasked with leading the election of a new pope. Fiennes, best known for performances in the Harry Potter movies and Schindler’s List, has several other projects on the way, including Uberto Pasolini’s The Return.
Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini
The list of great Stanley Tucci movies will most definitely get a little longer with the release of Conclave, as the Big Night and The Hunger Games actor will play Cardinal Bellini, one of the high-ranking officials taking part in the election.
John Lithgow as Cardinal Tremblay
John Lithgow, whose list of best performances includes everything from Dexter to The Crown and Terms of Endearment to The World According to Garp, will make another addition when he takes on the role of Cardinal Tremblay, another ambitious figure, in Conclave.
Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes
Isabella Rossellini, who has starred in classics like Blue Velvet, Death Becomes Her, and countless others, will appear in Conclave as Sister Agnes, a Vatican nun who knows all about some devastating secrets.
What Is Conclave About?
We’ve seen a few papal thrillers over the years, and Conclave sounds like it could one of the best with its riveting story and deep conspiracies. According to the official synopsis from Focus Features, the movie will show the fallout of the unexpected death of a beloved pope and how Ralph Fiennes’ Cardinal Lawrence navigates the immediate aftermath. Tasked with leading the conclave, the election of the new leader of the Catholic faith, Lawrence will also uncover a deep and devastating conspiracy that could very well bring on the upheaval of The Church.
Based on everything we’ve seen so far, this movie sounds like it’s going to have many twists and turns, unsettling revelations, and a multitude of bad players vying for the throne and control of one of the world’s biggest religions.
The Conclave Trailer
It looks like Focus Features’ latest picture is going to be an intense, engaging, and unpredictable thriller that could have a great twist ending, and the Conclave trailer does a great job of setting that up. Released in July 2024, the nearly three-minute video touches on the pope’s mysterious death, the hushed secrets surrounding his sudden passing and what might have led to it, and the monumental task presented to Cardinal Lawrence as he and other high-ranking officials take to the Sistine Chapel to elect a successor.
Everyone featured in the trailer either has some kind of secret or scheme involving the death and the power-play to become the new spiritual leader of more than one billion Christian souls. But this isn’t to say it gives too much away, as we’re still left guessing what is actually happening by the time the video comes to an end.
Conclave Is Based On Robert Harris’ 2016 Novel Of The Same Name
In the past 20 years, we have seen two papal conclaves – one in 2005 to find the successor to Pope John Paul II and then another in 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI resigned – but neither was as intense or conspiratorial as the election at the center of Robert Harris’ 2016 novel, Conclave.
Nearly a decade before being turned into a movie, Harris’ novel, published by Penguin Random House, followed a high-ranking cardinal as he was tasked with leading the election of the new pope, an endeavor that would prove to be far more difficult than anyone would have guessed. With various factions and alliances playing out behind the scenes of the monumental event, the man in charge of it all learns things aren’t always as they seem.
The New York Times called the book a “tightly woven tale about power machinations” while the Guardian described it as a “triumphant Vatican showdown, which is high praise from the two publications. A new paperback edition, scheduled to be published before the film adaptation, can be purchased on Amazon.
Conclave Is Directed By Academy Award Winner Edward Berger
German filmmaker Edward Berger put himself on the global map in 2022 with his brilliant and unsettling anti-war film, All Quiet on the Western Front, which remains one of the best movies on Netflix two years later. After winning Best International Feature Film at the 2023 Academy Awards, Berger turned his attention to Conclave, his first film since.
Put up to the task of adapting Robert Harris’ Conclave for Berger and Focus Features was Peter Straughan, a screenwriter best known for movies like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Our Brand Is Crisis, and The Goldfinch, to name a few.
Expect to hear more about Conclave as we get closer to its November 2024 release. If you want to get caught up on all the promising upcoming 2025 movies, now’s your perfect opportunity to do so.