Gladiator 2 Crew Members Injured Filming Stunt

A stunt sequence on the set of the highly-anticipated Gladiator sequel has reportedly left multiple crew members injured. The news was confirmed in a statement from Paramount Pictures on Friday, revealing that the ordeal occurred on Wednesday, June 7th. According to Variety's reporting, a total of six people were treated for burn injuries as a result of the accident, with four people still in the hospital. The accident reportedly occurred towards the end of Gladiator 2's shooting day, and did not harm any of the film's cast members.

"While filming a planned stunt sequence on the set of the 'Gladiator' sequel, an accident occurred during which several crew members experienced non-life-threatening injuries," a spokesperson for Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the film, said in a statement. "The safety and full medical services teams on-site were able to act quickly so that those who were impacted immediately received necessary care. They are all in stable condition and continue to receive treatment."

What is Gladiator 2 about?

The Gladiator sequel will star Mescal as Lucius, the son of Lucilla, The youth was the nephew of Commodus, the weaselly son of Roman leader Marcus Aurelius who murdered his father seized the throne and wound up in the gladiator ring with Maximus, who though mortally wounded, skewered the emperor before fading into the great beyond to reunite with his slain wife and son. Maximus saved the boy and his mother while avenging his own family, and left a strong impression on the young Lucius.

Gladiator 2 will be led by Paul Mescal, who will star as Lucius. Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, May Calamawy, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah, and Matt Lucas are also part of the film's cast. The film is directed by Ridley Scott, off of a script from David Scarpa.

"First of all, I love doing period films. I love the research. I love to create sort of smells of the period," Scott told the press in 2021. "I think what we did with the first Gladiator…I don't like being critical of other things that have happened before, but I wasn't the biggest fan of Hollywood Roman epics, honestly. They felt artificial and so, when I was asked to consider a script, the script was not very good. But the person who gave it to me said, I want to show you one thing, and he picked up an illustration, this is true, it's called For Those About to Die by Gérôme. He holds it up. It's a picture of this big painting of the Coliseum, and in the corner there is this guy, about to tuna fork this poor bastard," Scott added. "He's got this thing in his neck, and he's looking up for permission to kill. I went, bloody hell, that's never been done properly before. Never. I said, I'll do it. He said you will? I said yes. Did you want to read the script? I said no, and we went off and hit the ground running around the table, and evolved the new material."

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