Habemus Biopic: One Pope Movie Coming Right Up

Filmmaker Alejandro Agresti.

By contributing blogger Benjamín Harguindey

Argentine filmmaker Alejandro Agresti announced on Monday that he’ll be helming a biopic on Pope Francis, up until March 13th Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Titled A Priest’s Tale (Historia de un cura), the movie will be a co-production between Argentina’s Pampa Films production studio and Spain’s Pentagrama.

Said Pampa producer Pablo Bossi, “A Priest Tale’s” budget will be “above-average” for Argentina” (the average being, by National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts standards, $3.4 million pesos), with shooting locations in Argentina, Italy and Germany and featuring an international cast. The shooting will begin early 2014, though so far the movie has not received an estimated release date and remains in early pre-production.

Agresti told Variety in an interview that his lead actor of choice is Argentinian Rodrigo de la Serna, best known for his work as Che Guevara’s travelling companion Alberto Granado in The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta, 2004) and more recently as General José de San Martín himself in the epic biopic San Martín: The Crossing of Los Andes (San Martín: El cruce de Los Andes 2011).

A younger Bergoglio (left) and Rodrigo de la Serna (right).

The director told Variety in an exclusive interview that “More than a rapid biopic of key events, I’m more concerned with getting inside this very singular person, his decision to follow his vocation, and how he combined his faith and reason, having studied as a Jesuit for 14 years before being ordained“.

Alejandro Agresti made a seamless transition to Hollywood with The Lake House (2006) and his upcoming We’re No Animals (No somos animales, 2013), shot in Argentina and starring John Cusack. With 27 directing credits to his name reaching all the way back to the late ‘70s, A Priest’s Tale will be his 28th movie.

The original Variety article may be found here: http://variety.com/2013/film/international/argentina-readies-pope-francis-biopic-exclusive-1200595746/
Link to a Spanish source: http://www.otroscines.com/noticias_detalle.php?idnota=7770