‘Gladiator 2’ sequel completes cast and sees Barry Keoghan drop out of project

The cast of the planned sequel op Gladiator from 2000 is almost complete. Paramount Pictures reached a deal with May Calamawy, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah and Matt Lucas. In addition, the film project saw actor Barry Keoghan cancel. He will presumably be replaced by Fred Hechinger.

In May 2000, Ridley Scott delivered the fantastic Gladiator out. The film was not only the second highest grossing film at the box-office, it also received twelve Oscar nominations and managed to cash in five of them. In addition, took care Gladiator put director Ridley Scott back on top and launched the international acting careers of both Russell Crowe (Maximus Decimus Meridius) and Joaquin Phoenix (Commodus).

Since that success, there has been regular talk of a sequel or some kind of spin-off Gladiator, but so far that has never happened. In recent years, however, those rumors have gotten louder and louder. Production studio Paramount finally managed to get rid of Ridley Scott some time ago gladiatorial 2 got the green light. David Scarpa (All the Money in the World) will write the screenplay.

Fred Hechinger?

For that upcoming film – which was to be released in late 2024 – the very first Paul Mescal (afster sun) cast. He will play one of the leading roles as Lucius Verus. Lucius Verus can be seen as a child in the original film. He is the cousin of Commodus and the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen).

Another important role is that of Emperor Geta. It was about 20 years after the events of the first movie of Gladiator emperor of the Roman Empire, together with his older brother Caracalla. However, this cooperation will not last long, because the cruel Caracalla would later get rid of his brother. Initially, Barry Keoghan (The Banshees Of Inisherin) cast. However, he had to cancel due to scheduling problems. Paramount would therefore now be looking at Fred Hechinger (The WhiteLotus). The website reports that deadline.

May Calamawy

That website also reports that May Calamawy (Moon Knight), Lior Raz (fauda), Derek Jacobi (The King’s Speech), Peter Mensah (300) and Matt Lucas (Wonka) have joined the cast. In what role that is, it is not known for the time being, although Calamawy in particular would play an important character.

For Derek Jacobi, it will be a return. He was also featured in Gladiator as Senator Gracchus, an opponent of Commodus and supporter of Maximus and Lucilla. Earlier it became known that Connie Nielsen will also return as Lucilla. Furthermore, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington have also been confirmed for gladiatorial 2. It is also not yet clear what role they will play.