2024-07-16 11:25:48
One of the most anticipated films of the year is Gladiator 2, the sequel to the historical epic set in ancient Rome, which was remade by director Ridley Scott after a quarter of a century. On Tuesday afternoon, Paramount Pictures released the first trailer for it. “The arena turns slaves into gladiators, and gladiators into free men,” it reads.
Gladiator 2 will be released in Czech cinemas on November 14. | Video: CinemArt
The hero of the original film from 2000, played by Russell Crowe, is no longer alive, so the focus shifts to Lucio, whom the audience last saw as a child. He is now an adult and is played by Paul Mescal, known from the dramas Aftersun or the TV miniseries Normal People. It was thanks to her that director Ridley Scott discovered him.
“At the time the film takes place, Lucius lives in Numidia in northern Africa. As a child, he was sent there by his mother to be out of reach of the Roman Empire. But events unfold in such a way that Lucius returns as a gladiator to Rome, where he makes a new enemies and reunites with his mother,” Variety.com outlines the plot.
The news also features Pedro Pascal as a Roman general or Denzel Washington as the owner of the gladiators. The soundtrack was again composed by Hans Zimmer. “This could be a blockbuster with ambitions to match the first installment,” wrote Indiewire.com.
The first trailer contains, among other things, a shot of the so-called naumachia, i.e. the reconstruction of naval battles that actually took place several times in ancient Rome on artificial lakes or reservoirs built for this purpose. It is not clearly documented whether this type of special water gladiatorial combat was proven to have taken place directly in the Roman Colosseum as in the video.
The first part of Gladiator told the story of the fictional Roman general Maximus, who, after the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, refuses to submit to the new ruler Commodus, is arrested and sold into slavery, where he undergoes gladiatorial training. Under the nickname of the Spaniard, he then participates in the gladiator games in Rome at the very time when Commodus wants to dissolve the Senate and needs to get the people on his side.
The film, with a budget of about $100 million, grossed $460 million worldwide and won five Oscars, including a statuette for best picture. Czech cinemas will start screening the sequel on November 14.