‘City of God’s’ Fernando Meirelles to Direct Pope Movie for Netflix Starring Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins

Netflix has set Fernando Meirelles to direct an untitled film centered on the relationship between Pope Benedict and Pope Francis.

Benedict will be played by Anthony Hopkins and Francis will be played by Jonathan Pryce.

The movie will begin shooting in Argentina this November. Meirelles’ long time cinematographer Cesar Charlone will also join him on the shoot.

The film explores the relationship and opposing visions between two of the most powerful leaders in the Catholic Church, both of whom must address their own pasts and the demands of the modern world in order to move the church forward. Anthony McCarten is penning the script.

Dan Lin, Jonathan Eirich and Tracey Seaward are producing. Mark Bauch is exec producing.

The film marks Meirelles’ return to domestic feature films since his 2011 drama “360” which also starred Hopkins. His claim to fame is the highly acclaimed “City of God,” which earned him a best director nomination. He followed that up with “The Constant Gardner.”

Hopkins was most recently seen in “Transformers: the Last Night” and Pryce can be seen next in “The Man Who Invented Christmas.” Both are repped by UTA. Meirelles is repped by LBI Entertainment.