Gladiator was one of those rare films that was both a box office blockbuster and an awards season darling. Ridley Scott talked about making a sequel for years, even though the first movie’s hero died. And now that sequel is finally close to reality. While it will take a lot for the sequel to live up to the original’s success, such a thing is seemingly still possible, as the word is that those who have received an early look at Gladiator 2 are impressed by it.
“Blown away” are the words used by Deadline. Buried in a story about the fact that Ridley Scott is circling a Bee Gees biopic as his follow-up to Gladiator 2 is the news that footage of the film has screened for some execs and that they have been wowed by what they have seen. While there’s no information on exactly what they have seen, or how much of the movie they have seen, considering the Gladiator 2 release date is still months away, this is certainly a good sign for anybody looking forward to this one.
Gladiator 2 has been an idea in development for decades, so long that most probably thought it would end up being one of those projects that we’d never really see. This makes the news that at least some people have seen it more than a little satisfying. It has to be one of the more anticipated films on the 2024 release schedule.
It also makes it all the more surprising that we know very little about the actual story. Gladiator 2 details are few and far between when it comes to the actual plot. The film will be a sequel to the original Gladiator in that it will be set decades after the original film, and a handful of characters who survived the events of the first film will appear in the sequel. The movie will focus on the character of Lucius, a child during the first movie who has now grown into an adult. The Gladiator 2 cast also includes Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal in an undisclosed role.
While there had been an idea for a Gladiator sequel decades ago, actually writing the script was a very different thing. Scott said previous attempts to write Gladiator 2 simply didn’t work out. One certainly hopes that the delay has been worth it and that Scott truly waited for the right script to come along.
When the rest of us will get a good look at Gladiator 2 is another story. With the movie currently in post-production ahead of a release date in November, which puts it in prime Oscar territory in case it follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, it seems likely our first look will happen sometime this summer. If audiences are as blown away as the studio execs were, then Gladiator 2 might live up to, or even surpass, the success of the original.