With Ridley Scott‘s historical epic Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby currently in the post-production phase at Apple TV+. The filmmaker has moved on to tackling an equally challenging period piece. His long-gestating sequel to the massively successful film Gladiator that also starred Phoenix and landed Aussie actor Russell Crowe an Oscar statue.

A release date for the tentatively titled Gladiator 2 has been announced via Deadline as they report that Paramount Pictures has locked it in for November 22, 2024. Certainly a wise choice given that will take place over the Thanksgiving holiday season in the United States and a prime time for folks to flock to theaters as they aim for an older demographic given the violent action scenes we are expecting to see in it. This comes after Irish actor Paul Mescal reportedly became the frontrunner to lead the sequel after beating high-profile competition from the likes of Richard Madden, Miles Teller, Austin Butler, and Timothée Chalamet for the part.

Of course, fans of that first installment already know that General Maximus Decimus Meridius, aka, The Spaniard died at the end of the 2000 film with Mescal instead taking on the role of Lucius Verus II, the young son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla and next inline to become Emperor of Rome. That role had been occupied by American actor Spencer Treat Clark, who was simply recast with a more high-profile name as Mescal is part of this year’s Best Actor Oscar race thanks to his performance in Aftersun. We’re beyond excited to see who else Scott casts alongside Mescal and if any of those previous contenders are given other roles in the film. These big movies tend to be populated with a multitude of recognizable names and plenty of actors are going to want to be involved with a second Gladiator movie given how it gave both Crowe and Phoenix a massive career boost.

While the original film wasn’t exactly as historically accurate as expected with Napoleon, Scott and his team decided to create a fictionalized version of the Roman Empire with some real figures/events inspired from it. Given the dramatized take on history in the previous film, we really shouldn’t assume that audiences will be getting a true-to-life take on this adult version of Lucius and instead a more entertaining take, possibly just as violent as the original pic. Will the film become more of Roman Empire epic covering other battles as they attempt to keep their power over most of Europe or could it actually make a triumphant return to the gladiator pit? Only time will answer our questions concerning the plot.

SOURCE: DEADLINE