Gladiator 2: Ridley Scott Casts Lead Actor for Anticipated Sequel

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel has taken quite some time to come together since the original was released in 2000, but now a promising casting update has come in.

Leading Gladiator 2 will be Paul Mescal, according to a report from Deadline. The 26-year-old Irish actor is best known for his roles in Aftersun and Normal People, the latter of which earned him an Emmy nomination. Rather than taking place before the first film and keeping Maximus in the spotlight, Mescal will be playing Lucius, the son of Connie Nelson’s Lucilla.

Scott will once again direct Gladiator 2, which doesn’t have an official title just yet. It’s expected to be the director’s next project as he just finished up Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix (who also starred in the original Gladiator). While a sequel has been hinted at for well over a decade, the current iteration started becoming a reality in 2018 after Paramount came on to help develop the project.

The script for the movie was written by David Scarpa. Producing the Gladiator sequel will be Scott and Scott Free president Michael Pruss, alongside Red Wagon Entertainment’s Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher. Universal also has the right to partner on the project once it is packaged as they co-produced the original along with DreamWorks. Other crew returning from the original movie are costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max.