Jude Law gets religion, to play pope

Jude Law is the new pope. The British actor will play the fictional Pope Pius XIII in The Young Pope, a miniseries directed by Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino.

The series -- a co-production of HBO, Sky and France's Canal Plus -- was announced Sunday in Cannes, where Sorrentino’s film Youth is competing for the Palme d’Or. Filming is due to begin this summer.

Law will play Lenny Belardo, who is thrust into the role of pope and must grapple with his faith and the powerful structures of the church.

Sorrentino, who will co-write the eight-part series, said it would explore “the inner struggle between the huge responsibility of the Head of the Catholic Church and the miseries of the simple man that fate (or the Holy Spirit) chose as pontiff.”