Ridley Scott is putting together a cracking cast for his Gladiator sequel that includes Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington.
The original is recognised as one of the best movies of the noughties well as a hit commercially. It won five Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Russell Crowe.
It told the story of Maximus Decimus Meridius, a Roman general betrayed by Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) following the death of previous Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Maximus survives an assassination attempt and is eventually sold into slavery before becoming a Gladiator inside the Roman Colosseum.
A sequel was confirmed in 2022, with Mescal in the lead role as Lucius. The son of Lucilla and nephew of Commodus, he struck a bond with Maximus, who may or may not be his father.
Plot details on Gladiator 2 are thin, but Scott provided some more background on where Lucius is at in his life.
“Paul (Mescal) is playing Lucius... That’s someone who was 12, and this is about 12, 15 years later," he told Rotten Tomatoes.
"He’s been out in the wilderness having lost touch with his mother. Mother lost touch with him, doesn’t know where he is. She thinks he might be dead.”
As for Washington, it appears that he may be playing the movie's villain, according to industry insider Daniel Richtman.
The Academy Award winner is listed as playing Macranus, a "former fighter who has managed to change his destiny and who has improved his position in society and is now a well-connected onlooker from the wings. Yet, despite his own past, he has no intention of helping others do the same. A cunning and cruel manipulator, he is fuelled by ambition."
Pascal is playing a heroic Roman soldier figure, but more details on his character are thin currently.
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