GLADIATOR II Behind the Scenes Featurette Takes a Look Inside the Directing Mind of Ridley Scott
We are just over a week away from the long-awaited sequel Gladiator II from director Ridley Scott. Scott is known for making epics like Alien, Blade Runner, White Squall, the first Gladiator, and so much more, that we knew this film would live up to the scale of its predecessor, and the first reviews say as much.
The film’s stars are also not shy about attributing the film’s success to their director, and we get a feel for his presence on set in a new featurette released by Paramount.
It follows the actors on set as they are being directed by Scott, who clearly has an incredible eye for large-scale filmmaking.
The story takes place years after Maximus gave his life, upending the leadership of the decadent and corrupt Commodus. The sequel centers on Lucius, the son of Lucilla, and nephew of Commodus, the son of Roman leader Marcus Aurelius who murdered his father and seized the throne.
Commodus met his downfall in the gladiator ring against Maximus, who despite being mortally wounded, took down the emperor before passing on to reunite with his family. Maximus had saved Lucius and his mother, leaving a lasting impact on the young boy.
It’s explained that “decades have passed and Lucius has come of age far away from his mother. While he was still a child, Lucilla sent him to the northern coast of Africa, to a region called Numidia that was (at that point) just outside the reach of the Roman Empire.
“Gladiator II begins with Mescal’s Lucius living a peaceful life with his wife and child until conquerors from his homeland begin to encroach. Scott says: “The film begins with the raiding party of the Roman fleet, which comes in from the sea and decimates Numidia. It’s pretty gnarly.”
Lucius eventually finds himself a prisoner that is taken to Rome, and there he has to fight in the Colosseum. Scott explains how this plays out: “The wrinkle is, when he gets to Rome as a prisoner and has a first round in the arena, he sees his mother—to his shock.”
The movie stars Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal , Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Derek Jacobi, Rory McCann, Fred Hechinger, Matt Lucas, May Calamawy, Tim McInnerny, Peter Mensah and Alec Utgoff.
Check out the featurette below, and watch Gladiator II when it opens in theaters on November 22nd.