Gladiator II

Gladiator II is an upcoming epic historical drama film directed and co-produced by Ridley Scott. Serving as a sequel to Gladiator (2000), the film was written by David Scarpa, from a story he wrote with Peter Craig, and stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington. It was produced by Scott Free Productions in association with Red Wagon Entertainment and Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation for Paramount Pictures. The story follows Lucius, the former heir to the Roman Empire, who becomes a gladiator after his home is invaded by the Roman army, led by general Marcus Acacius, during the reign of co-emperors Caracalla and Geta.

A sequel to Gladiator was discussed as early as June 2001, with David Franzoni and John Logan set to return as screenwriters. Over the next few years, Scott offered occasional updates, including the possible involvement of the original film's lead actor, Russell Crowe, along with plot ideas about the Roman afterlife and different historical time periods. Development was halted when DreamWorks sold the rights to the property to Paramount in 2006. The film was finally announced in 2018, and Mescal was cast in the lead role in January 2023, with a script by Scarpa. The rest of the cast signed on over the next several months. Filming took place between June 2023 and January 2024, with a five-month hiatus due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes (including the 2023 actors strike).

Gladiator II is scheduled to be released internationally, including the United Kingdom, on November 15, 2024, and later in the United States and Canada on November 22.

Premise
Over two decades after the original events of Gladiator (2000), Lucius—the grandson of Rome's former emperor Marcus Aurelius and son of Lucilla—lives with his wife and child in Numidia. Roman soldiers led by general Marcus Acacius invade, forcing Lucius into slavery. Inspired by the story of Maximus, as depicted in the original 2000 film, Lucius resolves to fight as a gladiator while opposing the rule of the young emperors Caracalla and Geta.

Cast

 * Paul Mescal as Lucius Verus, the former heir to the Empire. He has been living "in the wilderness" for about 15 years and has had no connection with his mother, whom he believes to be dead. He lives with his wife and child in a coastal town in Numidia. He is taken prisoner by the Roman army and is forced to fight as a gladiator.
 * Pedro Pascal as Marcus Acacius, a Roman general who trained under Maximus (the main character in Gladiator). He leads an army to take over North Africa. According to Pascal, he is "a very, very good general, which can mean a very good killer", and is a symbol to Lucius of everything he hates.
 * Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, the mother of Lucius. She associates with Acacius and watches Lucius fight in the arena, but does not recognize him as her son.
 * Denzel Washington as Macrinus, a power broker who keeps a stable of gladiators. He works as an arms dealer and provides food and oil to the armies in Europe. Scott described him as "pretty fucking cruel" to the arena fighters.
 * Joseph Quinn as Emperor Geta. Despite comparisons with Joaquin Phoenix's performance as Commodus in the first film, Quinn did not feel he channeled Phoenix's performance, crediting Scott for wishing him to "play the chords louder and turn it up and go for the more brave or bold form" of communication. He also credited Nielsen for helping him and the rest of the cast to not be nervous about the first film's legacy.
 * Fred Hechinger as Emperor Caracalla, the brother of Geta. The brothers threaten Lucilla's wellbeing to control Acacius. Scott described the pair as "damaged goods from birth" who are "almost a replay of Romulus and Remus".
 * Derek Jacobi as Senator Gracchus, a member of the Roman Senate who opposes the growing corruption of the imperial court.
 * Tim McInnerny as Thraex
 * Alexander Karim as Ravi
 * Rory McCann as Tegula

May Calamawy, Lior Raz, Peter Mensah and Matt Lucas appear in undisclosed roles.

Development
In June 2001, developments for a Gladiator (2000) follow-up began in the form of potential for either a prequel or a sequel, with David Franzoni in early negotiations to once again serve as screenwriter. The following year, a sequel was announced to be moving forward with John Logan serving as screenwriter. The plot, set fifteen years later, included the Praetorian Guards ruling Rome, and an older-aged Lucius searching for the truth about his biological father. Franzoni signed on as producer, alongside Douglas Wick and Walter Parkes. In December 2002, the film's plot was announced to include prequel events regarding the parentage of Lucius, as well as sequel events depicting the resurrection of Maximus. Producers and Russell Crowe collaboratively and extensively researched ancient Roman beliefs regarding the afterlife. By September 2003, Ridley Scott announced that the script was completed, while confirming that the story would primarily center around the secret son of Maximus being Lucius.

In May 2006, Scott stated that while development on the project continued, the exact story for the film had yet to be mapped out. The filmmaker stated that all creative minds that were involved with Gladiator were working on how to continue from where the story left off. Scott stated that Crowe had favoured a fantasy element in bringing Maximus back to life, while Scott believed a grounded, historical approach was the better option. While he believed the film would not be made, he confirmed the plan to reveal that Lucius is the son of Maximus and Lucilla. He also discussed the necessity of a more complex script with the corruption of Rome in the potential sequel. During this time, Nick Cave was commissioned to write a new draft of the script. It was later revealed to be written under the working title of "Christ Killer". Cave described the plot as a "deities vs. deity vs. humanity" story. The premise involved Maximus in purgatory, who is resurrected as an immortal eternal warrior for the Roman gods. In the draft, Maximus is sent to Earth and tasked with stopping the momentum of Christianity by killing Jesus Christ and his disciples, as their movement was gradually siphoning off the power and vitality of the ancient Pagan gods. During his task mission, Maximus is tricked into murdering his own son. Cursed to live forever, Cave's script included Maximus fighting amongst the Crusades, WWII, and the Vietnam War; with the ending revealing that in the modern-day time period, the character now works at The Pentagon. The script was ultimately rejected and scrapped.

After experiencing financial difficulties in the 2000s, DreamWorks Pictures—including the rights to Gladiator and the rest of the pre-2006 live-action film library—was sold to Paramount Pictures in 2006 and development on the sequel was halted. In March 2017, Scott revealed that the difficulties of reintroducing Maximus, when the character is deceased, had been resolved. The filmmaker expressed enthusiasm for the future of the project, while discussions with Russell Crowe to reprise his role were ongoing. In November 2018, it was announced that Paramount was green-lighting the development of a sequel. Scott was in early negotiations to once again serve as director, with a script written by Peter Craig. Scott will additionally serve as producer alongside Doug Wick, Lucy Fisher, Walter Parkes, and Laurie MacDonald. The project will be a joint-venture production between Paramount, Scott Free Productions, Red Wagon Entertainment, and Parkes/MacDonald Image Nation. By June 2019, producers stated: "...we wouldn't touch unless we felt in a way to do it was legitimate." In their interview, they also revealed that the current script takes place 25–30 years after the first film. The plot will center around Lucius.

In April 2021, Chris Hemsworth approached Crowe with a proposal to become involved with the project, with the intention to co-produce the film. While working together on Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), the two actors shared additional ideas for the film. By September 2021, Scott stated that the script was once again being worked on with his intention being to direct the sequel upon the completion of production on his current project Napoleon (2023). In November, it was revealed that David Scarpa, who worked with Scott on Napoleon, was rewriting the script. Scarpa was hired by Scott because of their friendship, but struggled with him to find a good script for the film's story since 2019, leading Scott to wait ten months until Scarpa came up with the idea of using Lucius as the protagonist.

Originally greenlit with a production budget of $165 million, the cost of the film ballooned to a reported $310 million by the time filming wrapped (though Paramount insisted the net cost did not exceed $250 million). The production received nearly €47 million in film incentive rebates from Malta, setting a record the largest rebate issued for a film production in the European Union.

Pre-production
In January 2023, Paul Mescal was cast in the film as the adult Lucius (originally portrayed by Spencer Treat Clark), while it was also reported that Arthur Max and Janty Yates, the production designer and costume designer of the original film, respectively, would also be returning to work on the sequel. Scott was unaware of Mescal's fame until he watched his performance in the BBC Three/Hulu miniseries Normal People. Shortly after, the story for Gladiator II was finalised, and Scott ultimately cast Mescal in the lead role after a brief Zoom call. Austin Butler, Richard Madden, and Miles Teller had also been considered for the lead role. Mescal was chosen after Daria Cercek and Michael Ireland had seen his performance in the West End revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, claiming that the "ladies in the audience [had been] very vocal" when he had taken his shirt off. In March, Barry Keoghan entered negotiations to join the cast in the role of Emperor Caracalla while Denzel Washington joined the cast. Additionally, John Mathieson was set to return as cinematographer for the film.

In April 2023, it was announced that Connie Nielsen and Djimon Hounsou would reprise their roles as Lucilla and Juba respectively, while Joseph Quinn was added to the cast as Emperor Geta. In May 2023, Pedro Pascal, May Calamawy, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah and Matt Lucas joined the cast of the film, with Fred Hechinger entering negotiations to play Caracalla after Keoghan had to drop out over scheduling conflicts. Jacobi reprises his role as Senator Gracchus from the first film. Hechinger would be confirmed the following month. In December, Hounsou announced that, despite initially being involved, he would not be returning for the sequel due to scheduling conflicts.

Filming
Production was expected to begin in May 2023, with Ouarzazate, Morocco set as a filming location. Set construction began in the city in April. Filming began in June 2023 with additional filming locations planned for Malta, which stood-in for ancient Rome, and the United Kingdom over the following four months. An accident involving fire during filming on June 7 injured six crew members. Filming was suspended in July due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. Filming resumed on December 4 in Malta, and wrapped on January 17, 2024. Filming also took place on the South Downs at Devil's Dyke, Sussex in June 2024.

Music
In January 2024, it was reported that Harry Gregson-Williams was composing the score for the film, taking over from Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard who scored the first film. Zimmer decided not to return because he did not want to repeat his work from the first film. In an interview with Curzon, he said that the film was "in really good hands" with Gregson-Williams, who had started his career as Zimmer's assistant.

Release
Gladiator II is scheduled to be released internationally, including the United Kingdom, on November 15, 2024, and later in the United States and Canada on November 22, by Paramount Pictures. Universal Pictures declined to co-finance the sequel or distribute it overseas as it had the first film because of the sequel's expensive production budget, leaving only Paramount as the worldwide distributor. It was previously scheduled for a global release on November 22.

On July 1, 2024, it was announced that the film's release date would be shared with the first film of the two-part film adaptation of the musical Wicked (from Universal), whose date was moved from November 27 to avoid competition with Moana 2. This sparked speculation whether pitting the two films together could result in a scenario similar to the Barbenheimer phenomenon resulting from the films Barbie and Oppenheimer being released together on July 21, 2023. On July 10, 2024, Mescal dubbed the pair-up as "Glicked" and voiced his support for the two films as a double feature, saying "It would be amazing 'cause I think the films couldn't be more polar opposites and it worked in that context previously. So fingers crossed people come out and see both films on opening weekend."

Marketing
Footage of the film screened at the CinemaCon 2024 in Las Vegas included scenes of Quinn as Caracalla dressed in a white toga and laurel-leaf crown dramatically plunging his thumb downward to note the fate of defeated gladiators, with Nielsen in the background. In June of that year, Scott showcased an extended clip of the film featuring Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen and Joseph Quinn. A poster for the film was released on July 8, 2024, with a trailer released the following day. The trailer will also reportedly be attached to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), slated for release on July 26, 2024. Jennifer Ouellette of Ars Technica said the trailer indicated the film "promises to be just as much of a visual feast, as a new crop of power players (plus a couple of familiar faces) clash over the future of Rome". Rather than using an orchestral score, the first trailer used "No Church in the Wild" by Jay-Z and Kanye West which caused a backlash among film fans. Some attempts to justify this choice of music cited the trailer for the first Gladiator which had used "Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock.