Posted in: Movies, Paramount Pictures | Tagged: Gladiator 2, paramount, Paramount Pictures, paul mescal

Gladiator 2 Is "Really Well Written" & "Pays Homage" To The Original

Gladiator 2 star Paul Mescal praises the script for the sequel saying it is "really well written" and "pays homage to the first one."

It seems like we might have to make another list of "productions that can't seem to catch a break." We did a version during COVID-19, but that was something that couldn't be solved overnight. The ongoing strikes, however, that could be solved if studios would pay people livable wages. Instead, we have productions like Gladiator 2 that have been hanging out in development hell since around 2001, and when they finally get off the ground? Well, here we are, but we can't blame anyone in the unions for wanting to eat, pay their rent, or have health insurance. Gladiator 2 star Paul Mescal did an interview with Esquire before the strike began and was asked about his role in the upcoming film. When prodded for information about who he is playing in the movie, Mescal revealed that he can't talk about anything but did praise the script.

"I can't get into that!" he says brightly. "I can't tell you how stressed I am talking about that film in particular, because it's definitely the biggest one I've done. I feel really excited, but, like, it's difficult to get away from the legacy of the film a bit. I think it's really well written, and it pays homage to the first one, but it's very much something that I think I can step into and make comfortably my own."

The cast list for Gladiator 2 is packed with some massive stars that Mescal admits he is a bit nervous to work with, including Pedro Pascal. Mescal admits that he saw Pascal in the airport but was too afraid to approach him. "I was too afraid to go up to him. … He came up and just seemed so genuine; I'm really looking forward to hanging out with him," Mescal explained. Relatable, we, too, wouldn't know what to say if we were suddenly forced to interact with Pedro Pascal without time to prepare. As for other Gladiator alumni, Mescal would like to speak to Russell Crowe, though he said, "I don't know what we would talk about. Like, I'd love to hear his stories from filming, but the character is, like, totally separate." When pushed if they were actually totally separate characters and not at all related, Mescal replied with "Nawp!" which Esquire artfully describes "as close to an unusable utterance as it's possible to emit, while also not refusing to answer the question." Now that is how you play the "I just signed a giant NDA" game, Paul; well done.

Gladiator 2 Is A Sequel, But Don't Expect Any Russell Crowe

A follow-up to Gladiator is one of those movies where you're really unsure if this is a good idea, but it has been in varying stages of development since 2001. However, things fell apart in 2006, and it wasn't until over a decade later, in 2017, that things started to pick up again. It was officially greenlit in November 2018, and last year, it was announced that the script was complete. In January, we got word that Aftersun and Normal People star Paul Mescal was in talks to star. Ridley Scott is back to direct the film with a script by David Scarpa, returning costume designer Janty Yates, and production designer Arthur Max. Scott is set to produce along with Scott Free President Michael Pruss, as well as Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher via Red Wagon Entertainment. Since then, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Derek Jacobi, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, Fred Hechinge, May Calamawy, Lior Raz, Peter Mensah, and Matt Lucas have all joined the cast.

"Mescal won't be replacing Crowe's Maximus, whose character met his end in the original film, but instead, he will be playing Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), who now is a grown man as the story takes place years after the first film ended. Lucius was also the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the 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."

While we have a release date of November 22, 2024, we don't know if Gladiator 2 will be the title [it probably won't], and production started but was halted due to studios refusing to pay writers and actors livable wages.

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