The Colosseum will be back in business soon, as the the long-awaited sequel to the blockbuster hit Gladiator is heading to the silver screen in Fall 2024. According to Deadline, the movie has currently been scheduled for 22 November, just in time for Thanksgiving next year.
Original director Ridley Scott is returning to helm the new project, which sees Aftersun breakout star Paul Mescal in the lead role. Not much else is known about the story, but the actor will play Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, Wonder Woman) and nephew of Joaquin Phoenix’s character Commodus, the son of Roman leader Marcus Aurelius who murdered his father to seize the throne for himself. 24 years later, Lucius will no longer be the little boy that audiences knew previously, having grown into a young man with his own trials and tribulations.
Mescal made the cut as Scott’s eventual pick for the lead actor of Gladiator 2 after a hunt that reportedly saw Richard Madden (1917, Rocketman), Timothée Chalamet (Lady Bird, Dune), Top Gun: Maverick‘s Miles Teller and Elvis‘ Austin Butler in the running. Costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max, both of whom also worked on the first movie, are joining Scott in making a return to the arena.
Gladiator 2 will begin filming in sometime in March this year.