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CBS Plots Papal Miniseries
CBS has given its blessing to a miniseries focusing on the life of the late Pope John Paul II.
CBS' four-hour papal special, tentatively titled Pope John Paul II, will likely air next year, possibly during fall sweeps. It will chronicle the rise of the Polish-born Karol Wojtyla, from his youthful activism through his 26-year reign as pontiff.
The producers of Pope John Paul II have already secured the Vatican's blessing for the project, CBS has announced. Principal photography is expecting to begin this summer in Rome (some filming has already commenced on the project, per the New York Post). No casting has been done yet.
"We're really doing this on a large scale," Bela Bajaria, CBS' senior vice president for movies and miniseries, told the Hollywood Reporter. "It's a fascinating story."
CBS is hoping to translate the immense popularity of the pope, who died Apr. 2 at age 84, into ratings. Religious material is back in vogue in the wake of Mel Gibson's massive 2004 hit feature, The Passion of the Christ. (Gibson himself is rumored to be working on his own pontiff-themed project.)
The decision to greenlight the papal miniseries could also mend fences with conservative viewers in the wake of the Eyeball's The Reagans special in 2003. After gripes from right-wing critics, the network moved the miniseries to cable's Showtime.
This isn't the first time CBS has delved into Christian-friendly fodder. The Tiffany net aired the miniseries, Jesus, in 2000 with Jeremy Sisto as Jesus and Gary Oldman as Pontius Pilate. The creative team behind that special will also helm the new pope project. And, of course, CBS enjoyed heavenly ratings for its long-running Touched by an Angel and, more recently, the talking-to-God series Joan of Arcadia, which just wrapped its two-season run.
Per reports, ABC is also working feverishly on its own pope telepic, but no details have been announced.
Just last month, the new pope, Benedict XVI, watched an Italian feature film about Pope John Paul II's life, Karol, at the Vatican.
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