The rest of the cast signed on over the next several months, and filming took place between June 2023 and January 2024, with a five-month hiatus due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Gladiator II is scheduled to be released in the United States on November 22, 2024.
One character set to return in Ridley Scott's upcoming Gladiator 2 makes the film's Russel Crowe problem worse. The highly-anticipated action sequel is scheduled to release in November 2024 and is expected to not feature the original 2000 film's main protagonist Maximus (Russell Crowe).
Despite the excitement about Ridley Scott's Gladiator 2, the film faces some challenges ahead, and Russell Crowe's absence goes beyond Maximus' character and its relevance to the story.
These bullies were completely unaware that the new transfer student was a brutal fighter
Who turned down Gladiator role?
Mel Gibson – Gladiator
Not wanting to typecast in this kind of role, Mel Gibson turned down the part. The role later went to Russel Crowe, while the movie went on to win 5 Academy Awards. After the movie, Crowe went on to become one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood while Gibson's career went into steep decline.
Why is Russell Crowe not returning for Gladiator 2?
Crowe has bluntly claimed he will not be in the film as his character died in the original, and he reiterated this during an appearance at the Czech film festival in Karlovy Vary. In fact, Crowe said he “was in Malta recently” for another reason entirely: he was performing a concert with his band, Indoor Garden Party.
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. Ridley Scott returns to direct Gladiator II after two decades since the original.
Who Stars in 'Gladiator 2'? Along with Mescal, Quinn and Pascal, the movie stars Denzel Washington. Original Gladiator stars Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi will reprise their roles as Lucilla and Senator Gracchus, respectively.
Russell Crowe was 35 years old during the production of Gladiator, and his portrayal of Maximus Decimus Meridius garnered an Oscar win. The film featured a talented cast, including Joaquin Phoenix, who was 24 years old and received recognition for his role as Emperor Commodus.
She was an elder sister to later Emperor Commodus. Lucilla did have a past romance with Maximus, when they were both young and had not yet married. The relationship ended, however, and Maximus married and had a son, while Lucilla married, had a son and later was widowed.
The original actor for Lucius, Spencer Treat Clark, will not be reprising his role after Paul Mescal has been cast as the older version of the character.
However, Hounsou cited "circumstances" out of his control as the reason he will no longer star in the epic historical drama sequel. When asked if he's featuring in the sequel, Hounsou said, “Honestly, no. And this was a pure accident in the way it unfolded. I was going to be part of it.
Gladiator 2 will not showcase the return of Russell Crowe's iconic character Maximus, but Denzel Washington's role is set to provide what is needed to fill that void.
The gladiator games lasted for nearly a thousand years, reaching their peak between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. Christians disapproved of the games because they involved idolatrous pagan rituals, and the popularity of gladatorial contests declined in the fifth century, leading to their disappearance.
What role will Denzel Washington play in Gladiator 2?
Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Barry Keoghan as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.
Scott's follow up to his 2000 epic Gladiator began filming in June 2023 in Morocco and the UK but was halted in Malta the following month due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Production resumed at the end of November 2023.
It tells the story of Maximus, a Roman general turned gladiator who seeks to avenge the death of his family after they were killed by the malicious son of the emperor, Commodus (played by Joaquin Phoenix). Though Gladiator features real historical figures, Maximus wasn't a real person.
Joseph Quinn steps in to replace Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator 2. The trailer confirms Quinn's new antagonist role as Emperor Caracalla pays homage to Phoenix's Commodus in the original film. Quinn's transition from playing heroes to portraying a villain in the sequel marks a significant change.
It seemed to be made clear the relationship between Lucilla and Maximus ended before she met her now deceased husband judging from a coversation between Lucilla and her father, Marcus Aurelius. Maximus felt a bond with Lucius both because he was Lucilla's son and the loss of his own son.
Spencer Treat Clark as Lucius Verus: The young son of Lucilla. He is named after his father Lucius Verus, who was co-emperor of Rome until 169 AD. He is also the grandson of Marcus Aurelius.
Soon after the battle, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius was murdered by his own son and successor Commodus. Maximus realized this and declined to help Commodus leading the new Emperor to order Quintus to arrest and execute Maximus. Quintus had no choice but to obey and arrested Maximus telling him to not resist.
How does Russell Crowe feel about being left out of Gladiator 2? "The only thing that I really feel about it is slightly jealous, you know?", Crowe told the publication. "Because I was a much younger man, obviously, and it was a huge experience in my life. It's something that changed my life, really.
"I was confident about my abilities as a leading man," Crowe said (via Variety). "What I wasn't confident about with Gladiator was the world that was surrounding me. At the core of what we were doing was a great concept but the script, it was rubbish, absolute rubbish. And it had all these sorts of strange sequences."
Reflecting on the Ridley Scott-directed drama, Crowe, who won an Academy Award for his performance, said that he thought the original script was "absolute rubbish." "I was confident about my abilities as a leading man. What I wasn't confident about with Gladiator was the world that was surrounding me," said Crowe.
