Many are anticipating Ridley Scott’s return to Rome 24 years after Russell Crowe’s gladiator games. Paramount is building immense hype for the sequel.
Gladiator II has curious eyes on it as many await to see how Ridley Scott will continue the story that seemingly ended with Maximus Decimus Meridius. Although Russell Crowe himself is closely associated with the film, having won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the movie, as well as the movie itself taking home the gold. Crowe would not hold back on his feelings, saying how uncomfortable he was about the sequel being made. “I’m slightly uncomfortable with the fact they’re making another one — because, of course, I’m dead and I have no say in what gets done. But a couple of the things I’ve heard I’m like, ‘No, no, no, that’s not in the moral journey of that particular character’. But I can’t say anything, it’s not my place, I’m six foot under. So we’ll see what that is like.”
Paramount is not holding back on their hype for this sequel. According to Variety, the studio previewed new footage of the historical epic at the 2024 CineEurope trade show. Paramount President of International Theatrical Distribution Mark Viane would talk up the footage and declared that he and his peers were blown away by early footage that they saw. Ridley Scott appeared in an introductory video before the footage and stated how he felt that the new installment was ”well worth the wait” as it comes 24 years after the original. Viane would also make the proclamation that Gladiator II has some of the “biggest action sequences ever put on film.”
Variety also described another video introducing the footage, which was a comedic sketch “especially made for CineEurope — featuring Viane and various members of his team dressed as Romans and gladiators as they acted out scenes from the original movie, replacing the dialog for industry in-jokes (Variety got a mention). In this version of the story, however, Viane’s afterlife wasn’t the corn fields of Elysium, but the golf course.”
The long-awaited sequel stars Paul Mescal (Normal People), playing the adult Lucius. One report let us know, “Before he died, Maximus rescued Lucius and his mother from the clutches of the young man’s uncle, Commodus. The event left an impression on Lucius, who aspires to be as formidable as Maximus as he braves a harsh world.” Denzel Washington also co-stars as a supplier of weapons for the Romans.
They are also joined in Gladiator II by Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus) as Emperor Geta (replacing Barry Keoghan in the role, as he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts), Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) as Emperor Caracalla, and – in roles that weren’t specified when their involvement was announced – Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), Lior Raz (The Crowded Room), Peter Mensah (Spartacus), and Matt Lucas (Wonka). Connie Nielsen will also be returning as Lucious’ mother Lucilla.