‘Conclave’ Thriller Starring Ralph Fiennes Gets U.S. Release Date

Focus Features has set a U.S. release date for Edward Berger‘s new thriller, Conclave, which stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow.  

The film, set in the secretive Vatican meeting of Catholic cardinals who gather in Rome to pick a new pope, will be released in theaters in New York City and Los Angeles on Nov. 1, 2024, before going wider a week later on Nov. 8.

Conclave is German director Berger’s follow-up to his 2022 anti-war epic and Oscar winner All Quiet on the Western Front. The Vatican conspiracy thriller, with a screenplay by Peter Straughan and based on Robert Harris’ novel, sees Fiennes play Cardinal Lomeli, tasked with overseeing the cardinals arriving from across the globe to join the conclave. But as the political machinations inside the Vatican intensify, Lomeli realizes that the departed pope had kept a secret from them, which he must uncover before a new pope is chosen.

The ensemble cast includes Lithgow as Cardinal Tremblay, Tucci playing Cardinal Bellini and Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes, alongside Lucian Msamati, Brían F. O’Byrne, Carlos Diehz, Merab Ninidze and Sergio Castellitto.

Conclave is produced by House Productions and FilmNation Entertainment, and co-financed by FilmNation and Indian Paintbrush. The producer credits are shared by Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Michael A. Jackman, Harris and Alice Dawson.

Steven Rales, Glen Basner, Alison Cohen, Milan Popelka, Ben Browning, Len Blavatnik, Danny Cohen, Zoe Edwards, Harry Dixon, Paul Randle, Tomas Alfredson, Berger, Fiennes, Straughan, Robyn Slovo, Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Gangarossa are executive producing.