Everything We Know About Ridley Scott’s ‘Gladiator 2’
Courtesy of Vanity Fair.
On July 1, we were gifted a first-look of director Ridley Scott’s 2000 ‘Gladiator’ sequel by Vanity Fair. Multiple images showed the main cast in full wardrobe in a gritty style similar to the first film.
The sequel stars Paul Mescal (as Lucius), Pedro Pascal (as General Acacius), Denzel Washington (as Macrinus), Connie Nielsen (returning as Lucilla), Joseph Quinn (as Emperor Caracalla), May Calamawy, Matt Lucas, Fred Hechinger, and Rory McCann.
Paul Mescal plays Lucius, Maximums’ son from the first film, who hasn’t been seen in 15 years and is presumed dead. This likely leads into him becoming a gladiator where, like his father, no one knows who he was in his past life, as he faces down Pedro Pascal, who is a military commander turned gladiator as punishment for his crimes/sins.
As one of the most anticipated films of 2024, hype is at an all time high, which means Scott and his team have heavy expectations to live up to. The screenplay was written by David Scarpa who previously collaborated on Ridley Scott’s controversial biopic from last year, ‘Napoleon,’ where Scott re-teamed with Joaquin Phoenix, who played the antagonist Commodus in the original ‘Gladiator’ film.
Though many fans expected Hans Zimmer to return to score the sequel, and take his masterful Oscar-nominated achievement to the next level, Harry Gregson-Williams will be taking over the mantle, with Zimmer’s score serving as a foundation. Harry Gregson-Williams is Ridley Scott’s frequent collaborator, previously working together on ‘Kingdom of Heaven,’ ‘Prometheus,’ ‘Alien: Covenant,’ ‘The Martian,’ ‘The Last Duel,’ and ‘House Of Gucci.’
Plans for the long-awaited sequel have been in the works since the first film's huge commercial and financial success, and has been tossed around by multiple creative teams with different stories.
Original cinematographer and Best Cinematography Oscar nominee of the first film, John Mathieson, returns for the sequel.
‘Gladiator II’ reportedly has an inflated budget, vastly ranging between $250-310 Million — due to abrupt delays and accidents during production.
Production was expected to begin back in May 2023 in Morocco, with set construction began in the city in April. Filming then began in June 2023 with additional filming locations planned for Malta, which stood-in for ancient Rome, and the United Kingdom over the following four months. A major accident involving fire during filming on June 7 injured six crew members which temporarily halted production. Filming was suspended again in July due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes — the WGA strike, spanned 148 days from May 2 to September 27, involved 11,500 screenwriters clashing with the AMPTP. Simultaneously, SAG-AFTRA's record-breaking strike from July 14 to November 9, impacted 45,000 jobs. Filming resumed on December 4 in Malta and wrapped on January 17, 2024.
The sequel releases on November 15, 2024 (United Kingdom) and November 22, 2024 (United States).
