Can a sequel ever truly capture the magic of what came before? Those viewers who adore Aliens, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Godfather II, and heck, (arguably) A Quiet Place Part II consider that to be a question that no longer needs to be asked. That’s a fair take, but the (arena) stage is now set to see if Ridley Scott can do it again with Gladiator 2. The first movie was not only a box-office success that raked in $460 million worldwide but also took home multiple Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Russell Crowe), and Paramount Pictures would love to replicate that success and beyond.
Of course, the first Gladiator movie landed in 2000, so a full two decades have passed, and for various reasons (including Maximus’ demise), Russell Crowe is not returning for this film. However, Denzel Washington is on hand as an arms dealer named Macrinus, and Pedro Pascal is poised to remind viewers of his Game of Thrones performance by stepping into sandals as General Acacius. Paul Mescal will be in leading-man mode as Lucius, which will do as much or more to snag the younger generations as Taylor Swift did while asking TIME magazine, “Are You Not Entertained?” With that, let’s detail some of the latest updates for this return to Ancient Rome.
Plot
Before this sequel actually came together, Nick Cave (really) wrote a prospective dream-fever script that revolved around Maxiumus on an odyssey in the Roman afterlife. In doing so, he would have observed how Emperor Lucius had followed in the worst ways of his Uncle Commodus’ (Joaquin Phoenix) footsteps. This ghostly take clearly did not come to fruition, and now, Ridley Scott has gone in an entirely different direction with Lucius.
The sequel will pick up with adult Lucius, son of Roman empress Lucilla (the returning Connie Nielsen), who had sent him away to Numidia. He has been far away from bread and circuses, and Scott revealed, “He’s been in the wilderness” after having “lost touch with his mother.” In the sequel, Lucius is pulled away from peaceful family life and forced into a life of slavery by General Marcus Acacius’ (Pedro Pascal). As Vanity Fair first revealed, Lucius ends up fighting Acacius in the ring, and to make matters more complicated, Acacius is, to Lucilla, “the man she loves.”
The trailer has already previewed the film’s action-packed nature that somehow includes naval battles with sharks and a marauding rhino. In a conversation with Empire, Scott teased, “We begin the film with probably the biggest action sequence I’ve ever done. Probably bigger than anything in Napoleon.” Bigger than Napoleon, Blade Runner, or the chestburster scene in Alien? Apparently so. As Scott further declared, the rhino was constructed to have eight wheels and be made out of plastic, but the details were digital:
“Computerisation and AI — you have to embrace it. I can have a computer read every molecule and wrinkle on a rhino and then cut it on a thick piece of plastic, absolutely as a rhino’s body, which is then tailored to a skeleton shape. … I have this thing that can do 40 miles an hour, spin on the spot, wag its head and snarl,” Scott grins. “A two-ton rhino with a guy on its back! I mean, it’s a lot of fun.”
Aside from the action, the trailer also became bizarrely controversial with trolls review bombing the sequel over the inclusion of a Jay-Z and Kanye West song. Those trolls must not remember that the first movie did promotion with a Kid Rock song.
Cast
As the story goes, Paul Mescal went shirtless onstage in A Streetcar Named Desire (West End revival), and Paramount Pictures execs Daria Cercek and Michael Ireland found him “electric” and cast him accordingly. From there, returning actors include Connie Nielsen (as Lucilla), Derek Jacobi (as Senator Gracchus), and Djimon Hounsou (as Juba).
Additionally, the cast includes Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, May Callaway, Lior Raz, Fred Hechinger as Emperor Caracalla, and Joseph Quinn As Emperor Geta.
Release Date
Gladiator 2 is going for both blockbuster and awards glory with a November 22 release.
Trailer
Behold the full, oddly controversial trailer: