Gladiator 2: Last News

Paul Mescal has revealed that he had an argument with Ridley Scott on the set of Gladiator II because the director wouldn’t let him perform his own stunt.The actor stars as Lucius in the new film, which is released in UK cinemas on Friday (November 15), alongside Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi and Joseph Quinn.The Normal People and All Of Us Strangers star was eager to perform as many of his own stunts as he could, and in the case of one particular scene, that resulted in him having a moment of confrontation with his director.Towards the end of the film, Lucius mounts a horse in pursuit of Washington’s Macrinus, and as Mescal recently told Variety, Scott tried to stop him from climbing onto the horse himself.“Two weeks before the scene, Ridley says, ‘You’re not fucking doing it,’ and I was like, ‘What the fuck?,’ and we had this argument,” Mescal said.Scott was in fact acting on advice he had picked up from his 1977 debut film The Duellists, when he allowed leading man Keith Carradine to ride a horse on set on the final day of shooting. The actor broke his leg and cost the production a fortune in insurance payouts.“I was pestering him constantly,” Mescal added.

Russell Crowe achieved worldwide stardom as Maximus in Gladiator, but he’s seemingly had a difficult relationship with the sequel.Directed by Ridley Scott, Gladiator 2 follows Maximus’ son Lucius (Paul Mescal) who, after being forced into slavery, follows his father’s path by becoming a gladiator.Alongside Paul Mescal, the film’s cast includes Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz and Denzel Washington.The only two cast members to return from the original film are Derek Jacobi and Connie Nielsen, who play senator Gracchus and Lucilla respectively.Russell Crowe does not return as Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator 2. His character died at the end of the first film after being stabbed by Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).While the legacy of his character has an impact on his son Lucius, Maximus doesn’t make an appearance through any flashback or dream sequence.In June this year, Crowe admitted he felt “slightly uncomfortable” by the prospect of a Gladiator sequel, as he had no involvement in its creation.“I’m slightly uncomfortable, the fact they’re making another one, you know?” Crowe told Kyle Meredith.

It’s been over 20 years since Ridley Scott rocked the period action film genre with his beloved “Gladiator,” eventually earning Best Picture and Best Actor wins at the Academy Awards in 2001. A long-gestating sequel is finally going in front of cameras this summer, with recent Oscar-nominee Paul Mescal (“Aftersun“) taking the lead role and Scott returning to the director’s chair.