Screen Gems has acquired the exclusive life rights of legendary Italian priest Father Gabriele Amorth. Amorth, who died in 2016, performed thousands of exorcisms for the Vatican and left behind a trove of detailed accounts of his exploits.
The deal also includes rights to his two international bestselling memoirs An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories. The plan is to use the material to create a franchise, similar to the way the Ed & Lorraine Warren’s accounts of their work became The Conjuring film series.
Michael Patrick Kaczmarek will produce while Jeff Katz is writing the script based on his treatment. Amorth was recently the subject of a documentary by filmmaker William Friedkin.