Al Pacino became the first movie star granted a private audience with Pope Leo XIV on Monday, arriving at the Apostolic Palace with producer Andrea Iervolino and colleagues from the biographical drama “Maserati: The Brothers.”
A statement issued by Iervolino said the conversation revolved around family unity, service, and compassion—values he believes the automotive-pioneer story shares with the new pontiff’s teachings. The 84-year-old actor presented the pope with a scale model of the 1939 Maserati 8CTF and spoke briefly about the film’s plan to shoot scenes in Vatican City later in the week.
Pacino portrays Vincenzo Vaccaro, an early financial backer of the racing dynasty, in the English-language feature directed by Oscar winner Robert Moresco. Cameras have been rolling since late May in Emilia-Romagna, and North American rights were recently picked up by Magenta Light Studios, positioning the picture for a wide 2026 release.
The meeting comes little more than a month after Chicago-born Augustinian Robert Prevost became Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States and the first from his order. Vatican analysts note that early gestures toward artists fit a pontificate that has emphasized dialogue with secular culture and support for workers and migrants.
Some Catholic commentators welcomed the encounter as a sign of openness, while others cautioned that high-profile visits must not overshadow day-to-day pastoral concerns. For Pacino, whose recent roles include “House of Gucci,” the trip extends a long relationship with Italian stories; he told reporters that meeting the pope “went beyond cinema and into the human spirit.”
Images circulated on social platforms show the actor and pontiff smiling beneath Michelangelo frescoes before the delegation moved to the Apostolic Library for a brief blessing. Production is expected to resume Thursday in Bologna, keeping Pacino on Italian soil while post-production specialists at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios prepare an early cut for buyers at the Toronto market in September.
