It doesn’t seem like fans will have to wait nearly 25 years for yet another Gladiator sequel this time around. In a brand-new interview, director Ridley Scott says that he is already penning the screenplay for the next big-screen incursion on Rome’s infamously bloody and notorious Colosseum, and the filmmaker’s long-awaited sequel, Gladiator II, is still nearly two months away from beginning its theatrical run. Scott revealed the news to Total Film magazine (per GamesRadar+):
I’ve already got eight pages. I’ve got the beginning of a very good footprint. If there’s a Gladiator III, I don’t think you’d ever go back into the arena. But I had to go back into the arena.
Decades will have passed between the release of the Russell Crowe-led Gladiator (2000) and Macrinus’ (Denzel Washington) mad scramble toward his rise to power in Gladiator II this November. Scott’s original film remains a fan-favorite, so the pressure is on to deliver a worthy follow-up. Scott discussed Gladiator’s enduring legacy during the same interview by saying:
“The first movie really definitely touched the imagination in a way I didn’t quite expect. Because when they heard that Ridley is doing a Roman epic – a sword-and-spear-and-sandal movie – there was a lot of sniggering. Because up to that date, they’d always been very, you know, old-style Hollywood. And I knew what to do. And from that, I, in a funny kind of way, modernized Roman-epic kind of films. Then, you know, it spawns a lot of other guys in leather skirts and stuff.”
Denzel Washington Joins Gladiator’s Legacy
Casting Denzel Washington in Gladiator II as the power-hungry Macrinus was a stroke of genius on the part of Ridley Scott and his creative team. The filmmaker knows all too well that the highly anticipated follow-up will either bask or cower in the shadow its sequel, the Oscar-winning Gladiator (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects).
So, including Washington’s presence as Macrinus, whose character was a real-life Roman emperor, will give the movie much more elan and, thus, a real competitive chance to succeed as its predecessor did. Plus, Washington discusses his reasons for joining the project and gives fans an idea of what to expect from Macrinus in an interview with Empire. The actor says:
“[Macrinus] wants to be Emperor, and he’s willing to do anything to get there. There are very few films left for me to make that I’m interested in, and I have to be inspired by the filmmaker, and I was tremendously inspired by Ridley. We had a great go-round the first go-round [on American Gangster], and here we are. He’s engaged. He’s excited about life and his next film. He’s an inspiration. We should all want to feel like that at 86.”
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Gladiator 2 Star Promises the Sequel Honors the Legacy of the Original Film
Gladiator 2’s Joseph Quinn reflected on the predecessor’s legacy and his experience filming Ridley Scott’s latest movie.
Washington’s presence in the sequel is a definite game changer. However, there is even more buzz swirling about Scott’s sequel, including that very spoilery connection between Maximus (Crowe) and Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal), who is Gladiator II’s lead protagonist. But for now, fans will simply have to bide their time until Thanksgiving finally arrives and gives cinephiles something to be truly thankful for.
Gladiator II opens in theaters on November 22.
- Release Date
- November 22, 2024
- Cast
- Paul Mescal , Pedro Pascal , Denzel Washington , Connie Nielsen , Joseph Quinn , Fred Hechinger , Derek Jacobi , May Calamawy , Peter Mensah , Matt Lucas , Alexander Karim , Tim McInnerny , Lee Charles , Chidi Ajufo , Alfie Tempest , Riana Duce , Chi Lewis Parry , Paul Candelent , Hadrian Howard , Alexander Simkin , Mikhail Basmadjian , Matthew Charlery-Smith , Maxime Durand , Lior Raz
- Distributor(s)
- Paramount Pictures
- Character(s)
- Lucius Verus , Marcus Acacius , Macrinus , Lucilla , Emperor Caracalla , Emperor Geta , Gracchus