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'Conclave' Viewership Shot Up 283 Percent Following Pope Francis’ Death

Since Monday, viewers have watched nearly 7 million minutes of “Conclave” a film about the process of choosing a new pope. “The Two Popes” saw its numbers go up 417 percent.

On Monday, Francis’ passing at the age of 88 led to an effect of a different kind: a surge in viewership for Conclave, director Edward Berger’s Oscar-winning film about what happens in the Vatican when church leaders are locked in a room—or, well, the Sistine Chapel—to decide who will be the next pope. On Monday, thanks to one of the many cumbersome deals that dictate the modern streaming landscape, viewers needed to rent or buy the movie in order to watch it. The film, about a series of high-profile cardinals and their efforts to become the next pontiff, is a highly-dramatized, and drama-filled, version of what the secretive conclave process looks like.

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