Gladiator 3 Update: Paul Mescal Is ‘Massively Down’ To Return
says he’s more than willing to reprise his role as Lucius Verus in .
Gladiator II opens in United States theaters later this month. Directed by Ridley Scott, the sequel to 2000’s Gladiator stars Mescal as the son of Maximus, who was played by Russell Crowe in the original movie. The cast also includes Pedro Pascal as Marcus Acacius, Joseph Quinn as Emperor Geta, Fred Hechinger as Emperor Caracalla, Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, and Denzel Washington as Macrinus.
In September 2024, Scott revealed that he was in the early stages of developing a script for Gladiator 3.
“No, seriously! I’ve lit the fuse…The ending of Gladiator II is reminiscent of The Godfather, with Michael Corleone finding himself with a job he didn’t want, and wondering, ‘Now, Father, what do I do?’ So the next [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is,” he said at the time, via Premiere.
Speaking with Variety at the London premiere of Gladiator II, Mescal said that he was “massively down” to return for Gladiator 3.
He added, “I don’t think it will be [24] years — but I have no idea when it will be.”
It was recently announced that Mescal and Scott are planning to reunite for a new movie called The Dog Stars for 20th Century Studios, which will be an adaptation of a novel written by Peter Heller. Scott is also working on a Bee Gees biopic.
“Paul is very smart, so all he’s got to do is get over the scale of what I’m going to walk him into,” Scott recently told The New York Times about working with Mescal. “When I walked him onto the set of Rome in Malta, I said, ‘You’ll get over this in two hours. This is all for you, this is all for me. Let’s go and make this together.’ That was it. Part of my job is to make light of it.”
Gladiator II releases in United States theaters on November 22, 2024.
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