Gladiator II (November 22, 2024)

We weren’t really sure if this one was actually happening, but then a week ago I broke the news that Ridley Scott was scouting locations for “Gladiator 2.” Now we have more details …

“Gladiator 2” will start production in May of 2023. That’s a little more than 5 months from now, which is also when Scott’s “Napoleon” is rumored to be released in theaters. The Gladiator sequel will be directed by Scott and shot via the lens of DP Dariusz Wolski.

The sequel will follow Lucius (son of Lucilla and the nephew of Joaquin Phoenix's villainous Commodus). If you remember, Maximus saved Lucius from his uncle in the 2000 film. Connie Nielsen, who played Lucilla, is part of the sequel’s cast. So is Djimon Hounsou who is set to return as the once-enslaved Juba.

In 2019, Producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald had confirmed that the sequel would be set 25 years after the original. Writer Peter Craig (The Crown, Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1 & 2) is set to write the screenplay.

Source: World of Reel

EXCLUSIVE: Ridley Scott always said he would return to the Colosseum to continue the story of his blockbuster epic Gladiator, and it looks like we are getting close to having that wish granted. Sources tell Deadline that Normal People star Paul Mescal is in negotiations to lead the Paramount sequel to the Oscar-winning pic, with Scott returning to the directing chair. Scott also will produce, along with Scott Free President Michael Pruss as well as Doug Wick & Lucy Fisher via Red Wagon Entertainment. David Scarpa penned the script.

Also returning from the original film are Janty Yates (Costume Designer) and Arthur Max (Production Designer). The first film was co-production between Universal and DreamWorks and while DreamWorks will no longer be involved, Universal has the right to partner again when the project is packaged.

The new film follows the critically-acclaimed 2002 blockbuster Gladiator, which earned over $460M in worldwide box office and was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning five including Best Picture. 

The role of Maximus, the Roman general-turned-gladiator, was a career-changer for Russell Crowe when he played the part in the summer of 2000. It not only delivered him a Best Actor Oscar but launched to the top of every leading-man list in town, and once it was made clear last year that the sequel would be Scott’s next movie, every male actor in town that fit the profile began chasing the coveted part.

Meetings with Scott for the role began to heat up once a final draft was delivered in November, with Mescal being one of the first to sit down with the director. Although Scott continued to meet with other talent, insiders say it seemed clear to all involved that Mescal clearly was Scott’s top choice following a fantastic meeting between the two. By landing the role, Mescal not only gets to show off the strong range that earned him an Emmy nomination for his work on Normal People but also the physique the industry already had taken notice of that is needed to play the role. Crowe famously put on some serious muscle for the part, and Mescal will look to do the same.

Mescal won’t be replacing Crowe’s Maximus, whose character met his end in the original film, but instead he will be playing Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), who now is a grown man as the story takes place years after the first film ended. Lucius was also the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the son of Roman leader Marcus Aurelius who murdered his father seized the throne and wound up in the gladiator ring with Maximus — who, though mortally wounded, skewered the emperor before fading into the great beyond to reunite with his slain wife and son. Maximus saved the boy and his mother while avenging his own family, and left a strong impression on the young Lucius.

While Scott has hinted at wanting to continue the story going all the way back to when the original was still in theaters, the project gained steam in 2018 when Deadline first broke that Paramount came on to develop. As Scott was finishing up directing another period epic Napoleon (which coincidentally reunited him with Crowe’s Gladiator co-star Phoenix, who is playing French Commander Napoleon Bonaparte in that pic) he began to give indications his desire to make Gladiator 2 his next film, and by the end fo the summer he indicated to Paramount that it likely would be his next film.

Even after being in development for as long as it has, Paramount’s top brass did everything in their power to make sure this wasn’t just another project that stayed in development purgatory. While Mescal’s deal is still not closed, the studio now has its star, and all the hard work signals a return to the arena in a big way for all parties.

Best known his breakout role in the Hulu limited series Normal People, which earned him an Emmy nomination, Mescal hasn’t rushed to find that big studio job but rather his took his time and was particular in the material he went after. That decision has led to a big year for the rising star that included a number of films bowing at the Cannes Film Festival including God’s Creatures. He has also been receiving strong reviews for Aftersun, which is currently a contender this award season.

Next up for him is the Garth Davis pic Foe, which also stars Saorise Ronan.

He got his first Academy Awards nomination this year, and now he’s joining a franchise known for attracting Oscars. Our trusted and proven sources tell us Barry Keoghan has joined the cast of Gladiator 2 as the long-awaited sequel’s chief villain. Specifically, Keoghan will play a fictional version of the real-life Roman Emperor Geta, aka Publius Septimius Geta, who ruled Rome from the years 209 to 211.

Barry Keoghan’s signing on to Gladiator 2 is only the second piece of casting news we’ve received about the sequel. Back in January, Deadline reported that another actor who received his first Oscar nomination this year, Aftersun‘s Paul Mescal, would be playing the sequel’s hero. He’ll play an older version of Lucius, who Spencer Treat Clark (Mystic River) played in the first film.

In 2000’s Gladiator, the young version of Lucius is essentially a hostage in all but name. As the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and grandson to Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), Lucius is next in line to Rome’s throne. The ambitious and unstable Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) sees the boy as a threat and uses his well-being to keep his sister Lucilla in line.

Lucius comes to idolize Russell Crowe‘s Maximus and is the first to volunteer in helping the senator Gracchus (Derek Jacobi) carry his body away at the end of Gladiator. It remains to be seen exactly how the older Lucius will come to find himself in a similar position to that of the late Maximus, or how that puts him in conflict with Barry Keoghan’s Geta in Gladiator 2.

It’s honestly a little surprising that it’s taken until now for word to surface of any other casting in Ridley Scott’s sequel. Last month it was reported Gladiator 2 had a target release date of November 22, 2024. Arguably, the most unexpected part of our story is that by now we don’t have more casting news about the film.

That includes whether or not we can expect any actors from the first film to join Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan in Gladiator 2. As the woman who played Lucius’ mother, Connie Nielsen would seem to have a natural spot in the sequel. Of course, Crowe’s hero dies at the end of the first film, but with the de-aging technology available to filmmakers, a flashback or some kind of beyond-the-veil vision of Maximus isn’t out of the question, not to mention the same could be said of Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus.

While a number of the original film’s stars are sadly no longer with us — most notably Richard Harris and Oliver Reed (who played Proximo, Maximus’ gladiator mentor) — both Derek Jacobi and Djimon Hounsou are thankfully still working, and their characters survive the epic. We don’t know if those specific characters would have any believable reason to join Lucius in his fight against Barry Keoghan’s Geta in Gladiator 2, but the coming months will tell us more. When we know, we’ll make sure you know.

Source: GFR

EXCLUSIVE: Almost 16 years ago Denzel Washington and Ridley Scott wowed audiences with their hit crime drama American Gangster, and now it looks like the the two A-listers are ready to get back together in a big way. Sources tell Deadline that Washington is in final negotiations to co-star in Scott’s sequel to his Oscar Best Picture winner Gladiator for Paramount.

Paul Mescal is on board to star opposite Washington, with Scott returning to the director’s chair.

Scott also will produce with Scott Free president Michael Pruss as well as Doug Wick & Lucy Fisher via Red Wagon Entertainment. David Scarpa penned the script. Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald are executive producing.

Also returning from the original film are costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max.

The first film was co-production between Universal and DreamWorks, and while DreamWorks will not be involved in the sequel, Universal has the right to partner again when the project is packaged.

Once Mescal was locked for the project, Scott and Paramount Pictures President & CEO Brian Robbins and Co-Presidents Daria Cercek and Michael Ireland pushed hard for a star for the other major role in the film and took a shot with Washington, the two-time Oscar winner. When the offer was first presented there it was unknown whether he would actually do it; Washington is known for his great taste in projects and doesn’t sign up for anything. But after reading the script, sources close to the project said he was excited about the bad-ass role Scott had written with him in mind.

A meeting with Scott soon followed, and after the director gave his pitch, Washington was all but on board.

The new film follows the 2000 blockbuster Gladiator, which earned more than $460 million in worldwide box office and was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, winning five including Best Picture.

The role of Maximus, the Roman general-turned-gladiator, was a career-changer for Russell Crowe, not only delivering him the Best Actor Oscar but also launching him to the top of every leading-man list. Once it was made clear last year that the sequel would be Scott’s next movie, every male actor in town that fit the profile began chasing the part.

Mescal won’t be replacing Crowe’s Maximus, whose character met his end in the original film. Instead he plays Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), as a grown man as the story takes place years after the first film ended. Lucius also was the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the son of Roman leader Marcus Aurelius who murdered his father and seized the throne. Commodus wound up in the gladiator ring with Maximus who, though mortally wounded, skewered the emperor before fading into the great beyond to reunite with his slain wife and son. Maximus saved the Lucius and Lucilla while avenging his own family, and left a strong impression on the young boy.

Washington has always had strong ties not only to Ridley but also the Scott family, starring in several films of Ridley’s late brother Tony prior to his death in 2012. After working on Tony Scott thrillers like Crimson Tide and Man on Fire, Washington finally teamed with Ridley Scott on the 2007 crime thriller American Gangster (ironically, that film also starred Crowe). It was a box office hit, and for years Washington and Scott have been looking for that next big thing on which to team.

Washington was last seen in his Oscar-nominated role in Apple and A24’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. He can be seen next in the third Equalizer film for Sony that bows later this year.

Source: Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: The highly-anticipated Gladiator sequel continues to add to its already impressive cast as sources tell Deadline Connie Nielsen has closed her deal to return, while Joseph Quinn is in negotiations to play Emperor Caracalla in the untitled pic for Paramount. They join Paul Mescal, who will star as Lucius, Barry Keoghan and Denzel Washington. Ridley Scott is returning to direct.

The new film follows the 2000 blockbuster Gladiator, which earned more than $460 million in worldwide box office and was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, winning five including Best Picture.  

The role of Maximus, the Roman general-turned-gladiator, was a career-changer for Russell Crowe, not only delivering him the Best Actor Oscar but also launching him to the top of every leading-man list. Once it was made clear last year that the sequel would be Scott’s next movie, every male actor in town that fit the profile began chasing the part.

Scott also will produce, along with Scott Free President Michael Pruss as well as Doug Wick & Lucy Fisher via Red Wagon Entertainment. David Scarpa penned the script. Also returning from the original film are John Mathieson (Director of Photography), Arthur Max (Production Designer), and Janty Yates (Costume Designer). Paramount Pictures has dated the film for Nov. 22, 2024.

The first film was co-production between Universal and DreamWorks, and while DreamWorks will not be involved in the sequel, Universal has the right to partner again when the project is packaged.

Since so many characters were killed off in the first film and it’s been so long since that pic premiered, there weren’t a ton of familiar faces to choose from when it came to legacy cast members returning for this sequel. This is why it was so important to Scott and the studio that Nielsen’s character return for this sequel and made sure she was a part of its plans from the start of development. Not only is Nielsen the main love interest to Maximus in the first film she is also the mother to Lucius, who is now the main character in this film, and that mother-son relationship is expected to play a big part of the film’s story arc.

As for Quinn, his star has been on the rise following his scene stealing role as Eddie Munson in the most season of Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things. Paramount was quick to see his talent and offered him a starring role in A Quiet Place spin-off A Quiet Place: Day One, which just drew a ton of buzz at this week’s CinemaCon. Insiders close to that production say early footage from the film blew away execs with how he held his own alongside Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, who stars in the pic.

Besides Stranger Things, Quinn was also recently seen in BBC One’s Howards End limited series as well as BBC One’s Les Miserables. Nielsen will next be seen in Ava Duvernay’s Caste limited series.

WyldeMan wrote:Filming wrapped today on Gladiator 2. It's actually done.

Rusty wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:Filming wrapped today on Gladiator 2. It's actually done.

That's massive news. I'll wait for the inevitable Directors cut on Blu-Ray.

WyldeMan wrote:

A Ridley Scott directors cut? It's like you think he's another Zack Snyder or David Ayer who couldn't assemble a decent final cut without promising that the DC is coming down the road.

Rusty wrote:He's made a lot of movies and most of them have DC's. I don't think there's a director that comes close to having as many Ridley.

Some of them are barely noticeable, but they've never made his movies worse. Most add a little more depth to characters fleshing out the story.

Kingdom of Heaven takes the cake though. It adds almost an hour and creates an entire new film. The theatrical cut is unwatchable now.

Haven't seen Napoleon yet, but even Ridley said after the 3 hour Theatrical run is over, the 4 hour DC will go to streaming.

It all makes sense now. A few days ago, Paramount leaked to Deadline about how their jaws dropped while watching early footage of Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator 2” — the claim was that they were “blown away” by the film. “

A THR report is now saying that Scott’s sequel actually had its budget “balloon” from $165 million to a whopping $310 million. That is justifiably insane. The pieces goes on to describe Paramount execs as feeling “terribly vexed” by the whole ordeal.

“It’s a runaway,” says one source. “It’s not being managed.”

Of course, the strikes accounted for some of that money as the shutdown was costing Paramount $600,000 a week, which roughly tallied to around $10 million in losses once production restarted in December. However, that’s not enough to justify a budget that skyrocketed to over $300 million. It turns out that there were accidents on the set, complaints about animal abuse and walkouts:

   A stunt gone wrong in June sent four crewmembers to the hospital with non-life-threatening burn injuries. Then in July, PETA sent an open letter to Scott filled with “whistleblower” reports about horses and monkeys being abused on the set — reports that sources close to the production deny, noting that the Humane Society was on-site during filming.

That budget still doesn’t make sense. I bet we’re going to learn more details in the coming months about what else went wrong with the production. You don’t get to have your budget nearly double just because of PETA and an on-set accident.

On-paper, “Gladiator 2” could be top notch. You have Scott directing, David Scarpa writing and a cast that includes Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn and Connie Nielsen. It’s the sequel to an Oscar-winning, and much beloved, blockbuster. But did we really need it?

Scott is a very hit and miss director. For every good film he makes, he produces two or three mediocre ones. He’s still directed more than a handful of great films, but there should always be caution when it comes to whatever new film he releases. Which leaves us intrigued by what he might have in store with this sequel.

“Gladiator 2” is currently scheduled for a November 22, 2024 release.


Source: World of Reel

Paramount ended their CinemaCon 2024 on an epic note, that being Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II. The logo was unveiled and title made official today at the Las Vegas studio exhibitor confab.

Raised stakes here: Rhinos, man-eating monkeys, battling boats in the Colosseum and a very quotable, wise, fierce Roman statesman played by Denzel Washington — he’s not an Emperor. Not only does Paramount have a Thanksgiving tentpole locked up here in the sequel to the 2000 Oscar-winning Best Picture, but — wow — they clearly have another awards contender on their hands.

“It’s more extraordinary than the first” beamed Scott in pre-roll footage which also included stars Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen and Paul Mescal.

First shot in the trailer is a glimpse of hands sifting through rice, and echo of the famous shot of Maximus’ hand skimming over the top of a waving field of wheat in the original film. Says Paul Mescal’s son of Russell Crowe’s late Maximus in a voiceover, “I remember the days that a slave could take revenge on the emperor, that a slave found justice in the arena.”

“Can you hear that crowd?” says Washington, “The greatest temple that Rome ever built was the Colosseum..this is what they believe in…power.”

The son of Maximus, like his father, is a slave who is more than his worth in the arena, leading a rebellion. Pedro Pascal plays a revered right-hand Roman military leader to the Emperor, but also a fierce fighter in the arena. The battle goes beyond the Colosseum in large-scale epic fights outside of stone edifices — big skirmishes that only Scott can pull off. Connie Nielsen is back, and we see her bestowing Maximus’ ring to his son.

“The only truth in Rome is the law of the strongest,” booms Washington — who by the way doesn’t seem as despicable as Joaquin Phoenix’s Emperor from the first film; he’s seen in what appears several moments in the trailer dispensing advice to Mescal.

The sequel hits theaters on Nov. 22.

Source: Deadline