Edward Berger’s Papal Thriller ‘Conclave’ Starring Ralph Fiennes Sets U.S. Release Date With Focus

Focus Features has firmed up release plans for Conclave, the papal thriller marking filmmaker Edward Berger‘s follow-up to his 2022 Oscar winner All Quiet on the Western Front. An adaptation of Robert Harris’ same-name bestseller, penned by Peter Straughan, the film releases in theaters in New York and L.A. on November 1st, before expanding on the 8th.

Currently, the 1st is only occupied by an unknown title from Universal Pictures. Titles set to open on the 8th include Sony’s Venom 3 and 20th’s action thriller The Amateur starring Rami Malek.

Conclave follows one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events — selecting a new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy and discovers a secret that could shake the very foundation of The Church.

Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati, Brían F. O’Byrne, Carlos Diehz, Merab Ninidze, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini co-star.

Produced by House Productions and FilmNation Entertainment and co-financed by FilmNation and Indian Paintbrush, the film was developed by House Productions with the support of Access Entertainment. Pic’s producers are Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Michael A. Jackman, Robert Harris, and Alice Dawson. Exec producers are Steven Rales, Glen Basner, Alison Cohen, Milan Popelka, Ben Browning, Len Blavatnik, Danny Cohen, Zoe Edwards, Harry Dixon, Paul Randle, Tomas Alfredson, Berger, Fiennes, Peter Straughan, Robyn Slovo, Mario Gianani, and Lorenzo Gangarossa.

This year, Focus will also release Kobi Libii’s Sundance satire comedy The American Society of Magical Negroes, Morgan Neville’s Piece by Piece, chronicling the life of musician Pharrell Williams through LEGO bricks, Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, its reimagining of Nosferatu from Robert Eggers, Jeff Nichols’ motorcycle gang pic The Bikeriders, Sean Wang’s Sundance prize winner DÌDI (弟弟), Baltasar Kormákur’s romantic drama Touch, and Goran Stolevski’s Housekeeping for Beginners, among other titles.