Gladiator 2 Footage Revealed at CinemaCon

The first footage from Gladiator 2 was just screened at CinemaCon. The final day of the theatrical convention took place today in Las Vegas, with Paramount Pictures kicking off the festivities. The studio came in hot and heavy with the announcements, with fans getting news on a Transformers and G.I. Joe team-up movie, an R-rated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin adaptation, and much more. Paramount ended its presentation with the recently-titled Gladiator II, with words from director Ridley Scott, and actors Joseph Quinn, Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, and Pedro Pascal. Gladiator was one of the biggest movies of 2000, and its sequel Gladiator II is shaping up to be another epic.

“It is possibly more exciting that the first,” Ridley Scott said before the unfinished Gladiator II footage aired. “Working on this film was one of the stand-out moments in my life to date,” Paul Mescal said.

“I think when we arrived and saw the set built there… I remember being completely floored that they’d built ancient Rome,” Joseph Quinn said.

Pedro Pascal remembers seeing the film in theaters twice and says this movie exceeded his expectations. Denzel Washington promises action, emotion, and spectacle. “This is why people go to the movies,” he said. A five-minute segment, the first-ever look at Gladiator II, then began to play.

Gladiator 2 footage description revealed

The Gladiator II footage starts with flashbacks to the first. Maximus is carved into the walls. Its main character narrates, realizing “a slave could get justice in the arena.” Washington’s character explains, “This is what they believe in, power,” from under the Colosseum. Water fills the arena. Pascal is crowned. Sharks eat a man. Washington stands atop the arena. Baboons are unleashed. Gladiators, chained up, are forced to fight them. Later they are branded. 

Washington dissects a man with his words, proclaiming, “Rage is your gift.” Mescal’s character leads men into their battle, coming against a soldier riding a rhino. He dishes out orders as Pascal watches from the seats. They dodge the rhino, sending it crashing into the wall. Vast, incredible views of Rome through both interior and exterior shots grace the screen. Sweeping battles at sea show boats trading cannon balls with a citadel. In a role that looks to be like Joaquin Phoenix’s in the original, Quinn yells at Pascal, “Your name will be forgotten!” Pascal does battle in the arena. Washington claims Rome will fall, it just needs a push. Dramatic, action-packed, tense moments flash across the screen. Pascal and Mescal have an intense battle before the logo plays. “What we do in life, echoes in eternity,” Mescal’s character proclaims. It’s an immersive, intense, thrilling look at the film.

What is Gladiator 2 about?

In the sequel set about 15 years after 2000’s Gladiator, Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Aftersun) plays a grown-up Lucius Verus, son of Lucilla (a returning Connie Nielsen). The original Gladiator starred Crowe as the enslaved general turned gladiator idolized by Lucius (originally played by Spencer Treat Clark), who cheered “the Spaniard” in the games. Maximus died saving Lucius and Lucilla, having avenged his murdered son and wife with the death of power-hungry Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).

The Gladiator II cast includes two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington (Glory, Training Day) as a slave-turned-gladiator-turned arms and commodity dealer, and Pedro Pascal (Star Wars: The Mandalorian), May Calamawy (Moon Knight), Peter Mensah (300), Matt Lucas (Alice in Wonderland), Lior Raz (6 Underground), and Tim McInnerny (Blackadder) in undisclosed roles. Joseph Quinn (The Fantastic Four) and Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus) play co-emperors Geta and Caracalla. Scott, who directed the Best Picture-winning Gladiator, also directs the sequel penned by David Scarpa (Napoleon). The new movie also reunites Scott with Oscar-winning Gladiator costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max.

Gladiator II opens in theaters on November 22nd.