Conclave,” the Academy Award-winning film directed by Edward Berger and starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow, opens with a sobering sequence in which several prominent figures in the Roman Catholic Church gather around the recently deceased pope behind closed doors.

Conclave,” the papal drama depicting the process of electing a new pope, won an Academy Award last month for best adapted screenplay.

Speculation surrounding a conclave to elect a pope is a time-honored tradition. But for the impending conclave following the death of Pope Francis, the ranks of armchair Vatican experts have swelled thanks to Hollywood.