Twenty-four years after its $35 million box office premiere, the unforgettable film Gladiator is receiving a second installment. Ridley Scott returns as director of the sequel, written by Top Gun: Maverick scribe Peter Craig and Napoleon scribe David Scarpa.
Gladiator II finds an adult Lucius, son of Lucilla and last known remaining heir empowered to oversee Rome’s empire, in a similar predicament of his predecessors as tyrannical Emperors run a muck in Rome. Just as the case was for the heroic protagonist Maximus in Gladiator, Lucius is challenged into mustering all his inner strength and lessons from his past to return power to the people of Rome.
The Gladiator II cast includes Paul Mescal as Lucius, Joseph Quinn as Emperor Geta, Denzel Washington as Macrinus, and Pedro Pascal as Marcus Acacius. Aidan Elliott, Raymond Kirk, Walter F. Parkes, and Laurie MacDonald are onboard as executive producers of the Scott Free Productions, Parkes/MacDonald Image Nation, and Red Wagon Films collaboration. Paramount Pictures is in control of worldwide theatrical distribution.
Gladiator II is expected in theaters Nov. 22, 2024.
The original Gladiator, penned by David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson, premiered in the summer of 2000. Russell Crowe led the A-list bill as Maximus, the fallen Roman General who suffered unimaginable betrayals at the hand of the devious, self-serving emperor Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix. Other cast included Connie Nielsen, who will be reprising her role as Lucilla in Gladiator II, Djimon Hounsou as Juba, Oliver Reed as Proximo, and Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius.
Gladiator was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, eventually taking home Oscars for Best Sound, Best Costume Design, Best Effects and Visual Effects, and the two big ones, Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role — the second Academy Award nomination and first and only Oscar win for Russell Crowe, a year later he would receive another nod from the Academy for his role in A Beautiful Mind.
Although the film opened at a modest $34.8 million in domestic box office, its final worldwide cume landed at $465.4 million, with $187.7 million coming from domestic ticket sales.
The film is also considered a classic for several reasons — one being the inspiring nature of the storyline, which moves heaven and earth to show the incredible will of one man who undergoes testing of biblical proportions, and the other, quotable moments such as when Crowe famously barks at the ravenous coliseum crowd, “Are you not entertained?”
Not to mention the unforgettable score orchestrated by the legendary music composer Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. Harry Gregson-Williams (House of Gucci, The Equalizer), a reoccurring collaborator of Ridley Scott, will produce the music for Gladiator II.
Almost three decades later, one could only hope that Gladiator II will reintroduce the spirit of Maximus to a new generation of moviegoers with the ultimate message that even in times of unfathomable despair, all it takes is a will to make a way.
