What is there to say about Gladiator that has not already been said? Ridley Scott’s magnum opus, winner of 5 Oscars, including Best Picture, and a cast that delivered a story that is still paid homage to in films today. Ridley Scott outdid himself with the film: and now it’s getting a second helping.
Gladiator 2 is scheduled to release in the last quarter of next year. Ridley Scott, director of the sequel, spoke to Deadline, saying that 90 minutes of the film has been shot and edited, with another 90 minutes remaining to be shot. In true Ridley Scott fashion, a 3-hour long film about Rome is the least we can expect of the Napolean director. However, Scott revealed how wildly different the initial ideas of the film were, and how different the sequel could have been.
Also Read: “Why now?”: Ridley Scott’s Biblical Mistake Made Gladiator 2 Suffer Catastrophic Delay
Gladiator 2 put a dark fantasy twist on the franchise
Nick Cave, the Australian musician and writer, was tasked by Russel Crowe to pen a script for Gladiator 2. He ended up hating the story, but the alleged plot of the movie turned the entire franchise from a historical epic to something more along the lines of Clash of the Titans (2010). As narrated by Cave himself, the film was supposed to be a tale of vengeance, that would see young Lucius become a proxy of his uncle Commodus, Maximus returned to life to slay a Christ-like figure, who would end up being his last surviving family: his son, referred to in the script by his name, Hephaestos.
However, for better or for worse, this is not the film that will hit theatres in November of 2024.
Speaking with Deadline about his film Napolean, Scott touched on Gladiator 2 and how he came about the story. The director said:
“There was a very obvious way to go, which was who’s the survivor? Well, the survivor could be Connie, Marcus’ daughter, but what’s even more interesting, and therefore a double whammy, there’s the son. Whatever happened to him?”
Rather than the alleged script the Crowe got Cave to write, we will be getting a lot more grounded story, which would still fit cozily into the historical epic genre. The film is set to follow Paul Mescal’s Lucius, the nephew of the previous film’s antagonist, Commodus.
Who else stars in Gladiator 2?
Gladiator 2 has a star-studded cast, complete with new and fresh talent along with esteemed veterans of the craft. Starring as Lucius is Paul Mescal of Aftersun fame, whom Scott discovered while binging the young artist’s show Normal People. The director said:
“I watched this show called Normal People. It’s unusual for me, but I saw one and thought, that’s interesting. These actors are really good I watched the whole goddamn show and thought, damn. So this came up at a time when I need a 23 year old, 24 year old to take up the mantle of Lucius. And I just said, you want to do it? He said, yeah. He was about to do Streetcar Named Desire in London”
Apart from Mescal, rounding out the star cast are Pedro Pascal, and Connie Nielsen (reprising her role from the first film). Also returning is Djimon Hounsou, now a former Gladiator. Denzel Washington will be playing an important character in the sequel, one who harbors a deep hatred for the emperors of Rome. Regarding his character, Scott said:
“He’s got a stable of 30 or 40 gladiators. He likes to actually see them fight and it evolves that that’s where he came from. He was captured in North Africa, and evolved into a free man because he was a good gladiator. But he hides that because also he’s now realizing the potential of his actual power. He’s wealthier than most senators, so already has thoughts and designs of the possible idea of taking power from these two crazy princes.”
The two crazy princes refer to Marcus Aurelius Antonius, played by Joseph Quinn (of Stranger Things fame), and Publius Septimius Geta, played by Fred Hechinger.
Gladiator 2 is currently scheduled to be released on 22nd November, 2024.
