Ridley Scott Says “Gladiator II” Is Just ‘as Good’ as Oscar-Winning Original (Exclusive)
Scott spoke to PEOPLE at the 'Alien: Romulus' premiere in Hollywood on Monday, Aug. 12
Paramount Pictures
Paul Mescal plays Lucius in 'Gladiator II'Ridley Scott is sharing his thoughts on the upcoming Gladiator IImovie!
Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the Alien: Romulus premiere on Monday, Aug. 12, the filmmaker, 86, gave some insight into what fans can expect from the sequel to the May 2000 original.
“It's as good as the first one,” Scott tells PEOPLE. “I didn't say better. It's as good.”
Gladiator II is set to arrive in theaters on Nov. 22, 2024 with Paul Mescal starring as the lead and Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington as supporting cast members.
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Paramount Pictures
Related: Ridley Scott Says He Was 'Never Asked' About Directing Alien Sequel: 'I Should Have' Made It
The first Gladiator won five Oscars at the 2001 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Crowe)
It follows the story of Maximus (Russell Crowe) — a Roman general who is the victim of a coup by the evil emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).
Maximus is then forced into slavery and fights his way up the ranks as a gladiator so he can take vengeance upon Commodus, who killed his family.
Gladiator II will follow from the previous events as Commodus’ nephew Lucius (Mescal), picks up his fight.
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Ridley Scott at the U.K. premiere of 'Napoleon' on November 16, 2023Related: Ridley Scott Admits He Regrets Turning Down 'Blade Runner' Sequel to Direct 'Alien: Covenant'
“I thought the [first] film was, as it were, completely satisfactory, creatively complete, so why muck with it, right?” Scott told Deadline in November 2023. “But these cycles keeps going on and on and on, they repeat globally for the last 20 years. It started to spell itself out as an obvious thing to do, and that’s how it evolved.”
In July, Paramount Pictures released the trailer for the film. Fans were able to see a glimpse of Mescal's Lucius as he entered the fighting ring in the Colosseum.
The trailer also teased a battle between Mescal and Pascal's characters — and a gladiatorial battle with a rhino.
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