Gladiator 2 releases in November
More than two decades after Ridley Scott released the historical epic Gladiator, which won Best Picture at the Oscars and helped elevate the career of star Russell Crowe to new heights, he is returning to the ancient Roman world with Gladiator 2. This movie doesn’t continue the story of Crowe’s Maximus character for obvious reasons, but it does connect back to the 2000 film.
Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal as Lucius. In the 2000 film, Lucius was just a boy, witnessing the heroism of Maximus and the treachery of his uncle, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Lucius’ mother Lucilla was played by Connie Nielsen in the original movie. Now, over two decades later, she’s returning to the role for the 2024 film. It’ll be interesting to see how all the story threads connect from the first film to the second.
The movie releases November 22, 2024, which is just in time for the Thanksgiving weekend in the US, and expectations are high. In this gallery, we’re rounding up everything we know about Gladiator 2, including the cast, the story, where the movie was filmed, what Crowe thinks about it, and more.
This post will continue to be updated as more information about Gladiator 2 comes to light.
What is Gladiator 2 about?
Gladiator II is a sequel to the 2000 film. It follows the character Lucius, who is played by Paul Mescal. Lucius is the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix in the original). A trailer shown behind-closed-doors revealed that Denzel Washington’s character is using Lucius to help bring down Rome as part of a bloody coup of sorts. Further plot details are being kept under wraps for now, but fans should expect a lot of the same things the first movie delivered: violence, political drama, and gorgeous scenery. Don’t expect to see Phoenix show up as Commodus again, as that character died at the end of the 2000 film.
Who’s going to be in Gladiator 2?
Paul Mescal leads the cast for Gladiator II, playing the main role of Lucius. “I’m so proud I get to make it. It’s an intimidating feat. It’s something I’m nervous about but something I feel like I can do,” Mescal said about taking on the role.
Mescal was asked what kind of physical transformation he might undergo to play the role. He said he understands there can be a focus around physique for a film like Gladiator 2, but he said he does not find that very interesting to focus on. Mescal said he wants to make sure his character comes across as believable, and suggested he might not bulk up to an extreme degree as others have before him in roles like this.
“Of course there’s a physical robustness required for the character, but past that, I’m not interested. This guy’s got to fight and got to be a beast,” Mescal said. “And whatever that looks and feels like is right for me, is what it’s going to be. Sometimes I see films and I’m like, ‘That person doesn’t look real.'”
The cast also includes Nielsen returning as Lucilla, along with Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington in unspecified roles. Barry Keoghan was supposed to be in the movie but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict.
Is there a trailer for Gladiator 2?
There is no trailer for Gladiator II–at least not one that’s been released publicly. Footage released during CinemaCon earlier this year showed Mescal fighting a rhino and baboons, along with scenes depicting “naval bombardments,” political intrigue, and emperors described as being even more diabolical than Joaquin Phoenix’s dastardly Commodus in the first movie. Washington apparently plays a character who wants to undo Rome. He uses Mescal’s Lucius as a tool of violence and declares in the trailer, “Rome must fall. I need only to give it a push.”
With Gladiator II’s release coming up in November, it should only be a matter of time before a trailer is released publicly for all to see, so keep checking back for that.
Who’s directing Gladiator 2?
Ridley Scott, 86, returns to direct Gladiator II more than 20 years after the first movie. The film has big shoes to fill, as the original earned 10+ Academy Award nominations and won five Oscars, including Best Picture. Crowe won Best Actor for his performance as Maximus. The movie also earned more than $500 million in theaters back in 2000.
David Scarpa, who previously wrote Scott’s All the Money in the World and Napoleon, is writing Gladiator II.
When is Gladiator 2 coming out?
Gladiator II releases theatrically on November 22. It will presumably come to home video by way of a DVD and Blu-ray release, and eventually streaming sometime later.
Where was Gladiator 2 filmed?
Gladiator II was filmed across a variety of locations, including Morocco. Several crew members were injured there when a stunt sequence went wrong. Crew members suffered “non-life-threatening injuries,” a spokesperson for Paramount Pictures said.
The movie also filmed in Malta, which is where the production crew installed a massive replica of the historic Colosseum, along with other buildings reminiscent of ancient Rome.
What does Russell Crowe think about it?
Russell Crowe, who starred in the 2000 film and earned an Oscar for his role as Maximus, will not appear in the sequel because Maximus died a heroic death at the end of the first film. His life and career is inextricably connected to Gladiator, though, so when production began on the sequel, people naturally started asking him about it. Crowe had a funny reaction to it.
“They should be f**king paying me for the amount of questions I am asked about a film I am not even in,” he said. “It has nothing to do with me. In that world, I am dead. Six feet under.”
Crowe earned his first and only Academy Award for Gladiator, and he remarked that all the discussion about the sequel has made him feel “a certain tinge of jealously.” That’s because it reminds him of all those years ago when he played Maximus and how the role helped make his career. “It reminds me of when I was younger and what it meant for me, in my life,” he said.
But asking Crowe about Gladiator 2 to get specifics isn’t a good idea because Crowe says he knows nothing about the cast or the plot. That being said, Crowe said he’s confident that director Ridley Scott will deliver something special.
“I know that if Ridley has decided to do a second part of the story, over 20 years later, he must have had very strong reasons. I can’t think of this movie being anything other than spectacular,” Crowe said.
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