While I knew that Ridley Scott was making a Gladiator sequel, I guess I just stopped paying attention to any details about it. I loved – and perhaps still love? – the first Gladiator movie. I was around when it originally came out and I remember how basically every film lover was blown away by it. The cinematography, the story, the performances, the CGI “Rome.” The score is great too, btw. It will be a really difficult film to top and I had no idea how Ridley would even attempt it. As it turns out, he built a story in the same general universe, and Connie Nielsen has come back as Lucilla, the daughter of Marcus Aurelius. Paul Mescal plays her son Lucius all grown up, only Lucilla has sent him away to be raised far outside of Rome for his own protection. Pedro Pascal plays a general who served under Maximus in what would have the timeline of the first movie. Here’s something else I didn’t know: Denzel Washington is in it as a very wealthy “arms dealer” who keeps a stable of young gladiators for sport. Anyway, Vanity Fair has an exclusive photos (see above) and exclusive interviews with the cast and with Ridley. This comes out in November!
Paul Mescal on his Roman nose: “My nose just is kind of Roman. So it’s useful in this context. The nose that I absolutely hated when I was in secondary school—and used to get ribbed for—became very, very useful when Ridley needed somebody to be in Gladiator II.”
Connie Nielsen on Lucilla sending her son away: “There’s a lot of Sophie’s Choice going on here, where these are impossible situations that we are being forced to reckon with. There is an authoritarian power that is parading as if it were still somehow the vestiges of a Republican government. Inside of this travesty are human beings who are caught in this gamesmanship and power. That is what I find always so interesting in Ridley’s stories. He’s really showing the effect of power on people and what happens in a place where power is unrestrained.”
Pedro Pascal’s general, Marcus Acacius: “This movie has an identity that is shaped by [Maximus’s] legacy. It wouldn’t make sense for it not to,” says Pascal. He describes Acacius as a fighter who “learned from the best, so of course this code of honor is ingrained into his training and into his existence. But at the end of the day, he’s a different person. And that can’t change who he is. Maximus is Maximus, and that can’t be replicated. That just makes Acacius capable of different things.”
Ridley Scott on Denzel Washington’s dashing powerbroker Macrinus. “Denzel is an arms dealer who supplies food for the armies in Europe, supplies wine and oil, makes steel, makes spears, weapons, cannons, and catapults. So he is a very wealthy man. Instead of having a stable of racehorses, he has a stable of gladiators. He’s beautiful. He drives a golden Ferrari. I got him a gold-plated chariot.”
This whole piece and the photos made me really excited for the sequel. Nothing will ever really compare to how bonkers it was to see Gladiator in the theater the first time, but I actually trust Ridley Scott, I think? It’s clearly something he’s wanted to make for a while and it took him some time to figure out the story and the right actors. It’s cool that Connie has come back too!
Denzel Washington in ‘GLADIATOR 2’https://t.co/OI2mTFd581 pic.twitter.com/flummpEPnN
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) July 1, 2024
Instagram courtesy of Vanity Fair.
One of my favorite movies of all time; my husband and I rewatched it recently and it still holds up. Russell Crowe’s delivery of “at my signal, unleash Hell” still gives me the shivers. And of course that timeless, astoundingly beautiful theme song…
I don’t know about Mescal, in real-life pics he looks far too shrimpy to be a gladiator. But Pedro Pascal looks FIERCE and I can’t wait to see Denzel bring it!
I won’t watch it, maybe only later in streaming.
I’ve seen the original about 10 times and it’s one of the few movies that Ridley Scott should have left alone. His directing has gone downhill and haven’t liked a film of his in eons.
Curiously, Alien 2 (directed by James Cameron) and Blade Runner 2 (directed by Villeneuve) were decent films and now I wonder if him not being the director was what made them better.
I’ve watched the first movie so many times. I got excited about the sequel when I saw that photo of Denzil yesterday.
I hope this is great, but will see it in the theater regardless and will hope for the best. Ridley Scott is really hit or miss IMO. You never know what you are going to get.
Paul Mescal’s comment about his nose reminds me so much of this meme: https://www.reddit.com/r/rareinsults/comments/gonsta/quite_the_fall_from_olympus/
Not that you will ever be able to convince a teenager, but having a face with character is so much better than being blandly pretty/unremarkably average.
Does Connie Nielsen have any intention of aging? She looks as beautiful as she did, checks calendar, 24 years ago. To me, Lars Ulrich will forever be know as the husband of Connie Nielsen.
I loved Gladiator, still do. I remember talking about it with my former Latin teacher who greatly appreciated the accuracy of CGI “Rome”.
I can’t wait for this, I think for Scott this has been his baby project for years where he wanted to get the right script and cast.
I wonder if the plot will build on the hint that Lucius is Maximus’s son.
Russell Crowe is a bit of an assh@le but he is a good actor, he was mesmerising in the first Gladiator (the entire cast was amazing).
Loved the first one, and this one (I hope) is just as good. But, tbh, I am here for Connie Nielsen’s jewelry, which looks just as good as in the first Gladiator.
I wish I loved Gladiator as much as everyone else. I liked it but it a bad movie going experience (first and last date) permanently tarnished my impression. With Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, and Denzel Washington I’m looking forward to this and plan on going with my favorite aunt!
“I was around when it originally came out” ouch, me too. To those of us born in the 1900’s I salute you.
This is one of the few movies I saw twice in the movie theatre. And damn, Russel looked good back then. I wasn’t excited for the sequel, it felt like a title cash grab. But it actually looks good.
Ridley* had me at “Denzel”**.
Seriously.
He could film D reading a phone book, preferably one of those big doorstoppers that came out in the last millennium.
The rest of the cast looks very promising too, and good to see Connie Nielsen returning.
* couldn’t believe that he’s 86 years old already when I read that somewhere yesterday.
** can’t believe Denzel will turn 70 in December. 😢
I really hope Ridley doesn’t mess this up as badly as he did Napoleon. What a sad, historically incorrect mess that was.
I’m old enough (50) to feel a little inappropriate about how much I crush on Paul Mescal but oh boy! I will definitely be seeing this on opening night! 🙂
Me too, loved him in Normal People. He’s a fine actor, so if the screenplay is good, I hope the movie brings him even more success.
We lived in Sedona when this came out and our son was 1. So hard to get a baby sitter in Sedona at that time, but somehow managed to see Gladiator three times in the theatre. May I sa how very very good Denzel Washington looks!
Pedro! I hope he doesn’t die immediately.
What I thought when I saw the photo of Connie Nielson was that she looked great, and if she has or hasn’t had anything done to her face, she still looks like herself. Thank goodness.