Two German producers have bought the film rights to a forthcoming biography of Pope Benedict XVI.
The Odeon Film company said producers Marcus Mende and Peter Weckert planned a film for international release based on a biography by Peter Seewald of Bavaria which is due to be published in early 2014.
Seewald has already published three book-length interviews with the pontiff - two as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and one as pope.
Odeon Film gave no information on Thursday about a schedule for the film or who might play the main role.
Benedict's predecessor Pope John Paul was the subject of a dozen documentary films and two television movies in the United States