While the Catholic church prepares for its first papal conclave in 12 years, following the death of Pope Francis, many have been flocking to the hit movie Conclave.
The 2024 thriller starring Ralph Fiennes follows the gathering of the world’s most important Catholic Cardinals as they gather in The Vatican to vote for the new Pope.
That very scenario will unfold in real life over the next few days and weeks, following Francis’ death at 88.
As word of the papal death spread on Monday, many fans flocked to various streaming services to watch Conclave, according to Variety.
The film – which earned eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture – had a mᴀssive spike in viewership, up a whopping 283%.
Conclave had generated roughly 1.8 million viewership minutes on April 20 – the day before the Pope’s death was announced – which grew to 6.9 million a day later.
While the Catholic church prepares for its first papal conclave in 12 years, following the death of Pope Francis , many have been flocking to the hit movie Conclave
The 2024 thriller starring Ralph Fiennes follows the gathering of the world’s most important Catholic Cardinals as they gather in The Vatican to vote for the new Pope
The film is currently free to stream for Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service, though it is also available on several other premium video on demand (PVOD) services.
Conclave is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, following Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), who is tasked with organizing a new conclave.
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In doing so, he learns of various scandals and secrets swirling around many of the top candidates.
The film – which won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar – also starred Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini.
Conclave debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to gross $32.5 million at the domestic box office and $115.6 million worldwide from a reported $20 million budget.
The death of Pope Francis also sparked renewed interest in the 2019 Netflix film The Two Popes.
That film based on real interactions between Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and Cardinal Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), the future Pope Francis.
That film saw a 417% spike from Sunday – where it racked up 290,000 viewing minutes – to Monday – where it had 1.5 million viewing minutes.
The film is currently free to stream for Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service, though it is also available on several other premium video on demand (PVOD) services
Conclave is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, following Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), who is tasked with organizing a new conclave.
The Conclave team’s award season run also happened to coincide with Francis’ failing health
Francis was hospitalized for kidney failure in February, with Rossellini addressing His Holiness during the Screen Actors Guild Awards
The Conclave team’s award season run also happened to coincide with Francis’ failing health.
Francis was hospitalized for kidney failure in February, with Rossellini addressing His Holiness during the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
‘First of all, we would like to wish Pope Francis a quick recovery,’ Rossellini said on stage, adding backstage, ‘Pope Francis, I wish him well.
Her co-star Sergio Castellitto added, ‘For us that live in Rome, to live at a few meters, few yards from the Pope is to have a much closer relationship.’
‘We see the helicopter leaving his place: ‘Oh, is the Pope flying off today and coming back!’ So, our relationship as Italians to the Pope is much closer. I repeat, I really wish him well.”
