As the Vatican prepares for the election of a new pope, many around the world are doing their own preparations — by watching a movie about it.
After news of Pope Francis’ death broke Monday, the film “Conclave” had a viewership boost across streaming platforms it was available to watch on, according to Luminate, an entertainment data analytics company.
Edward Berger’s drama, which won the Oscar this year for best adapted screenplay, goes behind the scenes of the Vatican for the secretive process of electing a pope. The process is complicated further by power-hungry cardinals, played by Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow. (The film’s distributor is Focus Features, a unit of NBC News’ parent corporation, Comcast.)
Since its release in October, the movie has spawned a fervent fan base online, with many social media users circulating a slew of viral memes and passionate fan edits comparing it to pop culture staples like “The Real Housewives” and “Mean Girls.”
Existing fans and a new wave of viewers sought it out this week as tributes to Pope Francis poured in from around the world.
From Sunday to Monday, viewership spiked 283%, according to Luminate, which measures viewership data across major platforms in the United States, including Peacock, Netflix, Paramount+, Max and Disney+. The movie was watched an average of 1.8 million minutes Sunday. The number surged to 6.9 million minutes watched Monday, Luminate said.
A spokesperson for Focus Features did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the streaming data.