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Two Popes: Streaming platforms are prepared to take risks, says director Fernando Meirelles - Sky News

The Director of Netflix's The Two Popes says streaming services are good for cinema because they take risks - and have "obscene amounts of money".

Fernando Meirelles told Sky News he believes the Oscar-winning Roma would never have been made without Netflix, and that his film about Pope Francis would also have suffered without the platform.

The Two Popes. Pic: Netflix
Image: The film tells the story of Pope Francis (Pryce) and Pope Benedict XVI (Hopkins). Pic: Netflix

"If I was doing The Two Popes in a regular studio, I mean, one of the classic ways of producing, I wouldn't have the budget that I had," he said.

"So the film would be poor. I mean, it would look poor and probably wouldn't be as good as it is now. Netflix took the risk of producing Roma, for instance. That film would never, ever have been produced anywhere else.

"So it's good for the cinema - it's the opposite [of bad]. The platforms are really good for the cinema. We can test things. We can experiment more than regular studios."

The Two Popes stars Jonathan Pryce as Pope Francis and Sir Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI, and both actors have both been nominated for a Golden Globe, along with the film itself and the screenplay.

Set in 2012 in the run-up to Pope Francis taking on the top job, the majority of the film involves these two very different men debating the future of the church and the struggle between tradition and progress.

Meirelles, who also directed City of God and The Constant Gardner, said the film was borne out of his admiration for Pope Francis and his desire to find out more about him.

"I'm a big fan of Pope Francis. I mean, I think our world is really an odd place nowadays... We really need people who understand the world as one, one planet, one thing, and instead of building walls to build bridges. And I think Pope Francis is the main voice that tries to understand the world."

The Two Popes director Fernando Meirelles. Pic: Netflix
Image: Fernando Meirelles says streaming platforms are good for cinema. Pic: Netflix

The script was not easy, Meirelles said, "because in the end it's these two old men talking about religion and philosophy".

So he tried and succeeded in making the film "as light as possible", and the result showcases the best of Hopkins and Pryce's acting talents.

"I had already worked with Tony Hopkins so he was the obvious choice," he said. "And if you Google the Pope, you see Jonathan Pryce next to the Pope in several of the images because they really look alike... and I thought he had the same kind of energy that the Pope has.

"So I said, well, this is my guy. He wasn't an obvious choice in the beginning, (but) he's amazing, isn't he?"

The 2020 Golden Globes will be announced on 5 January, with Ricky Gervais hosting and Tom Hanks set to receive the honorary Cecil B DeMille Award.

The Two Popes is out on Netflix on 20 December

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