Jude Law is in negotiations to play a fictional pope in a TV series about the first Italian-American pontiff in history, according to unconfirmed reports. According to reports in the Italian media, Law is in talks to play the lead in The Young Pope, the new series by Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, whose film, The Great Beauty, won an Oscar in 2014 for best film in a foreign language. Tony Grisoni, one of the co-writers on the series, told Variety that The Young Pope will be about a conservative pope who is recruited by the Vatican in response to a growing liberal influence within the Church hierarchy. “No one, even at the Vatican, is prepared for how hard-line this American Pope really is,” said Grisoni. The Young Pope will be the first TV series directed by Sorrentino.