Ridley Scott’s Underrated Blockbuster Officially Becomes a Global Netflix Hit

It’s no secret that Ridley Scott is one of the most influential directors in Hollywood. Since making his feature film directorial debut in 1977 with The Duelists, the 87-year-old director has topped the box office with genre-spanning films such as The Martian, Prometheus, Hannibal, and Alien: Covenant, with many of his films also earning high praise from critics. In 2024, Scott returned to the top of the box office with a blockbuster historical epic, a sequel to one of his earlier films, that pulled in $462 million and is now topping the Netflix streaming charts.

Gladiator II, Scott’s long-awaited sequel to his Oscar-winning 2000 film Gladiator, is currently dominating the Netflix top 10 movies chart globally. With 8.5 million views and 21 million hours viewed, the David Scarpa-written film ranked as the fifth-most-popular movie streaming on Netflix for the week ending August 3, 2025. It only fell behind Happy Gilmore (No. 4), My Oxford Year (no. 3), KPop Demon Hunters (No. 2), and Happy Gilmore 2 (No. 1).

Gladiator II isn’t available to stream on Netflix in the United States, where it is instead part of the Paramount+ platform, but in the countries where it is available to stream, it’s been an instant Netflix hit. As of Tuesday, the film ranked No. 8 globally, per FlixPatrol data, and ranks within the top three in several countries.

Picking up 16 years after Gladiator, Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal as Lucius Verus Aurelius, Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, Pedro Pascal as General Acacius, Denzel Washington as Macrinus, Joseph Quinn as Emperor Geta, and Fred Hechinger as Emperor Caracalla. The historical epic centers around Lucius, the exiled Prince of Rome, who becomes enslaved during an attack. Brought back to Rome, he must fight in the Colosseum just like his father, the first movie’s protagonist Maximus (Gerard Butler).

Gladiator II released on the back of 24 years of anticipation. Gladiator was a hit upon its 2000 release, with its $465.5 million worldwide box office haul making it the second-highest-grossing film of the year after Mission: Impossible 2. The movie also swept the awards circuit, picking up five Oscar wins, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe. Given the original movie’s success, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the sequel was equally as fruitful.

Released in theaters in November 2024, Gladiator II grossed $462.2 million worldwide and earned plenty of praise from critics, garnering a 70% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. Just like its predecessor, Gladiator II also received recognition in the awards circuit, picking up one Oscar nomination and two Golden Globe Awards nods.

Gladiator II was a standout even in Scott’s book. Ahead of the movie’s theatrical release, the famed director dubbed it “the best thing I’ve ever made.”

Both Gladiator and Gladiator II are available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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