Gladiator is a 2002, Ridley Scott film that was written by David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson. The film had a star studded cast that had Russell Crowe in the lead and the supporting cast included Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Joaquin Phoenix, Richard Harris, Djimon Hounsou and Giannina Facio. The film was a critical success and the audience fell in love in with it as well. On a budget of 103 Million, the film earned $460 Million. The plot of the movie focused on “Commodus takes over power and demotes Maximus, one of the preferred generals of his father, Emperor Marcus Aurelius. As a result, Maximus is relegated to fighting till death as a gladiator.”
Gladiator was nominated for 12 Oscars that year, out of which it won 5- Best Picture, Best Actor- Russell Crowe, Best Sound- Scott Milan, Bob Beemer and Ken Weston, Best Visual Effects- John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke and Best Costume Design- Janty Yates. Many believe this to be Ridley Scott’s best film but I think that is still Alien. Now, after 20 years of the film’s release there is some news about a follow-up to it. Before Ridley Scott retires, we might get a Gladiator 2 after all.
Gladiator 2 To Start Filming Soon!
The rumors for a sequel to Gladiator have been circulating around since 2017, however, in all these years I think today might be the most concrete update that we will receive about the movie. The official announcement regarding the project’s existence came in 2018, where it was revealed that Ridley Scott would return in the director’s chair and the sequel would be penned down by Peter Craig. Apart from this nothing about the film was revealed. However, it looks like the sequel is finally taking a big step on its journey to the big screen.
According to a recent report by Puck News’ Matthew Belloni, Ridley Scott and company are in the middle of putting a cast together for the sequel. Belloni has heard that the sequel is still looking for key actors to fill in important roles. The sequel is rumored to start filming around May 2023, so the creative team has about five months to put together their ensemble. This report goes with other rumors that we heard back in December. It was reported that Ridley Scott is scouting locations for the sequel in December as the production is to begin in May 2023.
Gladiator 2 is supposed to be set 25 years later after the original and focus on Lucius, the nephew of Joaquin Phoenix’s Gladiator villain, Commodus. Fans may remember Lucius as the child Brutus (played by Gerard Butler) from his dastardly uncle in the original film. As it turns out, Connie Nielsen will still play Commodus’ mother, who happens to be the only confirmed casting along with Djimon Hounsou who will be returning to play a slave. Considering that the production is set to begin in May 2023 then the sequel should ideally release in late December 2024.
This release date would make sense as that would allow the film to be in the awards season conversation while enjoying the holiday boosted box office collections. The only problem with this is that James Cameron’s Avatar threequel is slated to release in December 2024 as well. I don’t think so Scott or Cameron would want to clash horns with each other. The sequel would face huge losses if it releases alongside Avatar 3 seeing how Avatar: The Way of Water has demolished all competition this year. I think, an early 2025 release date seems better for Gladiator 2.
Gladiator is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
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