It may not have Russell Crowe, but Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II definitely still looks like a Gladiator movie.
Ahead of the long-awaited sequel debuting its first trailer tomorrow, Paramount has shared a large batch of images from the film and they certainly match the style and flavor of Scott’s 2000 Oscar winner. Instead of Crowe, the sequel stars Paul Mescal, along with an all-star cast that includes Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, and Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi reprising their roles from the original Gladiator.
You can see most of those aforementioned names in shots from the film below:
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Work on a sequel to Gladiator began almost immediately after the original film became a massive hit in theaters. Which means it has taken almost a quarter century for Gladiator II to finally see the light of day. Some of the versions developed through the years would have involved Crowe. The one that finally got made does not and instead follows Mescal’s Lucius, who becomes a (wait for it) gladiator himself.
There’s a poster for the film as well. No tagline and not even a full shot of star Paul Mescal’s face. Just … a gladiator (2).
What Paramount hasn’t released yet is an official synopsis. And the last time I tried to summarize what it was about I an email from Paramount saying what everyone was saying about the film was not accurate. So okay, it’s about a gladiator … too. And that’s it.
Gladiator II is scheduled to open in theaters on November 22.
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Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky