VENTANA SUR: FilmSharks has licensed Latin American and Spanish rights to Disney for its upcoming $6m Argentina-Spain co-production about the Pontiff.

Pablo Bossi is producing Francisco, the first officially endorsed biography of the living Pope based on Elisabetta Pique’s biography Francisco Vida Y Revolucion.

Beda Docampo Feijoo, whose credits include Crazy Loves and Quiéreme, will direct from his adapted screenplay.

Dario Grandinetti, the Argentinean actor whose credits include Talk To Her and Argentinean smash and foreign language Oscar submission Wild Tales, will play the Argentine-born Pope Francis aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Grandinetti is pictured at left meeting Pope Francis.

Rounding out the key cast are Silvia Abascal, Jorge Marrale, Carlos Hipolito, Leonor Manso, Laura Novoa and Leticia Bredice.

Production on the Spanish-language biopic is scheduled to kick off in Buenos Aires on January 12 and continue in Madrid and Rome.

The story charts Bergoglio’s early work as a priest and role as Archbishop of Buenos Aires as told through the eyes of an investigative journalist. Francisco ends with the papal conclave of 2013.

“We hope this film conveys the admiration we all feel about a life consistently based on austerity and charity that will inspire,” said Feijoo.