Ridley Scott’s sequel to Gladiator has been in the works for years, and it is finally coming together with an impressive A-list cast.
Scott directed the original 2000 historical drama, which starred Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Oliver Reed, and others. The film was a major success at the box office and won five Academy Awards in 2001, including Best Picture.
After the success of the first film, discussions quickly began about making either a prequel or a sequel.
Scott announced in 2003 that the script for a sequel was completed, but progress stalled in 2006 when DreamWorks Pictures was sold to Paramount. The sequel was officially given the green light 12 years later.
It wasn’t until January 2023 that Gladiator 2 secured its lead actor. Paul Mescal, who gained prominence following the release of Hulu’s Normal People in 2020, impressed executives with his performance in a West End production of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Later that year, Pedro Pascal and Stranger Things breakout star Joseph Quinn were confirmed to join Mescal.
As filming concluded, Mescal expressed uncertainty about the transition to being a major movie star, especially after his roles in After Sun, All of Us Strangers, and other smaller budget films.
“I don’t know what the difference will be. Maybe that’s naive?” he told in January 2024. “Is it just that more people will stop you in the street? I’d get profoundly depressed if that’s so and hope it isn’t true.”
He continued, “I’ll have an answer next year, but if [the film] impacts my life in that way, I’ll be in a bad spot. I’d have to move on and do an obtuse play nobody wants to see.”
Alongside Mescal, Quinn, and Pascal, the film features Denzel Washington. Original Gladiator stars Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi will return to reprise their roles as Lucilla and Senator Gracchus, respectively.
The plot details have mostly been kept secret, but the film is set decades after the original and follows Lucius (Mescal), the son of Lucilla and the nephew of Commodus (portrayed by Phoenix in the 2000 film).
Gladiator 2 is scheduled to be released in theaters in November 2024.
Paramount Pictures released the official trailer in July 2024, featuring plenty of masculine energy, battles, and heroism.
The trailer briefly honors Crowe’s Maximus, showcasing his battle in the Coliseum, and reveals that Lucius (Mescal), the son of Maximus’s love, Lucilla (Nielsen), “never forgot” that day.
“You will be my instrument,” vows Washington’s Macrinus, inspiring Lucius to fight for his own legacy. The trailer flashes images of war, bloodshed, and indifferent Roman rulers as Lucius’ journey begins to unfold.
Macrinus tells Lucius at one point that “rage is your gift” as the gladiator prepares to face a rhino in the Coliseum and, ultimately, his greatest adversary, the Roman General Marcus Acacius (Pascal).
The trailer concludes with Lucius and Acacius confronting each other in the arena as Rome watches. Scott told in August 2024, “It’s as good as the first one. I didn’t say better. It’s as good.”
