The Young Pope

The Young Pope
Promotional poster
GenreDrama
Created byPaolo Sorrentino
Written by
  • Paolo Sorrentino
  • Stefano Rulli
  • Tony Grisoni
  • Umberto Contarello
Directed byPaolo Sorrentino
Starring
Opening theme"Watchtower" (Instrumental) prod. by Labrinth
ComposerLele Marchitelli
Country of origin
  • Italy
  • France
  • Spain
Original languages
  • English
  • Italian
No. of episodes10
Production
Executive producers
  • Lorenzo Mieli
  • Mario Gianani
  • Viola Prestieri
  • Paolo Sorrentino
  • Caroline Benjo
  • Carole Scotta
  • Simon Arnal
  • Jaume Roures
  • Javier Méndez
  • Tony Grisoni
  • John Lyons
  • Ron Bozman (pilot)
  • Nils Hartmann
  • Sonia Rovai
  • Roberto Amoroso
Producers
  • Jude Law
  • Ben Jackson
Production locations
CinematographyLuca Bigazzi
EditorCristiano Travaglioli
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time46–60 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
Release21 October (2016-10-21) 
18 November 2016 (2016-11-18)
Related
The New Pope

The Young Pope is a satirical drama television series created and directed by Paolo Sorrentino for Sky Atlantic, HBO, and Canal+. The series stars Jude Law as the disruptive Pope Pius XIII and Diane Keaton as his confidante, Sister Mary, in a Vatican full of intrigues. The series was co-produced by the European production companies Wildside, Haut et Court TV and Mediapro.

The world premiere of The Young Pope was on 3 September 2016 at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, where the first two episodes were screened out of competition, the first time in the history of the festival that a TV series has been a part of the program. The series premiered on television on 21 October 2016 on Sky Atlantic in Italy.

The Young Pope was originally designed as a limited series, and was marketed as such, especially in the United States. However, it was later followed by The New Pope, with Law returning and joined by John Malkovich. Production began in Italy in late 2018.

On 14 July 2017, The Young Pope received two nominations for the 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, becoming the first Italian TV series to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.