Gladiator 2 (2024) - Thoughts and Predictions?

Jeffrey Howard79 said:Is there any cult classic left that hasn't been slapped together with a sequel? 🙂

The Goonies

I swear, if they don't film a sequel featuring Thelma and Louis, I’m going to lose it.☕

Jeffrey Howard79 said:Are there any cult classics out there that never ended up getting a sequel? 🙂

John Boorman: Excalibur or maybe Deliverance?

If I were ever tasked with filming a movie based on actual events following the era of Komodo—not that it’ll actually happen, of course—I feel like I could pick almost any angle... the script would practically write itself because we're talking about such an incredibly gripping period of history (kind of like that old Chinese curse theory)... specifically that massive crisis when the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under its own weight.

granitecyclist said:John Boorman: Deliverance?

That movie just didn't hit the mainstream level required to warrant a sequel. Usually, sequels happen when a film reaches cult status or massive commercial success.
For instance, I think Carpenter's Christine would actually have a great plot for another adaptation, but it never quite captured that mainstream momentum.

They’ll probably just pivot the story to some successor of Maximus, but honestly? It’s going to be a disaster. It’ll be just like when they swapped out Jean-Claude Van Damme for a totally uncharismatic Sasha Mitchell in Kickboxer 2. There's just no way this works.

gladiator

It’s basically impossible to make a decent movie about the ancient Romans—no matter how cheap you try to keep it. Honestly, the bigger the budget, the better.

Gerald Jackson48 said:They will probably just carry the story forward using some close successor to Maximus, which I suppose would be similar to how the uncharismatic Sasha Mitchell replaced Jean-Claude Van Damme in Kickboxer 2. There is just no way that works.

It is stated right there in the article; the lead character is Lucius, Lucillin's son, who is actually the grandson of Marcus Aurelius.

Oh, wonderful. Just what we needed—another sequel that nobody actually asked for. I suppose it’s hard to get much worse than a follow-up they dreamed up back in the early 2000s.
Quote: Weekend Warrior

Ridley Scott's screenplay for Gladiator 2 kicks things off with Maximus waking up in the afterlife. Unfortunately for him, it isn't the sun-soaked Elysium he dreamt of in Gladiator. Instead, he finds himself in a bleak, rain-soaked underworld where miserable refugees huddle along the banks of a pitch-black ocean. With the help of a ghostly guide, Mordecai, Maximus makes his way to a crumbling temple. There, he encounters Jupiter, Mars and five other deities. During the encounter, Jupiter explains that one of their number, Hephaestus, has turned traitor and is now spreading the word of a different god who possesses more power than any of them combined. If I may nitpick for a second, Hephaestus is a Greek god, not a Roman one, so Cavo should really have named him Vulcan. However, the script makes up for that little error with some truly enjoyable writing. "He's an agitator," says Jupiter of Hephaestus. "He fans the flames of dissent... just a little breeze... a tiny puff... but inside lies the omen of total chaos. Am I making myself clear?" "No," says Maximus. Jupiter offers him a deal: kill Hephaestus, and he'll be reunited with his wife and son in those golden wheat fields of Elysium. It might feel more like a Terry Gilliam film or a Neil Gaiman graphic novel than a massive blockbuster sequel, but Cavo's Orphean adventure sort of makes sense. All through Gladiator, Maximus longs to see his family again. There's a real logic to a plot that keeps that yearning alive, even when the man himself is no longer living. Once you adjust your expectations, you can just settle in and enjoy Gladiator 2 for the supernatural quest movie it actually is. Then, everything changes. Just as Maximus manages to track down Hephaestus, he's suddenly yanked out of that dark, underworld gloom and thrust back into a world of living, breathing people—set about a decade or two after his actual death. Human again, he travels to Rome in search of his son Marius: did I mention that Marius, who was crucified and burnt to death in Gladiator, is alive and kicking in Gladiator 2? Right now, the script centers on a group of early Christians dodging the Roman authorities, much like the setup in the recent Mary Magdalene biopic starring Phoenix. These sequences also pull in some of the characters and political intrigue from Gladiator. While searching for his son Marius—did I mention that Marius—Maximus runs into his longtime ally Juba, who was originally played by Djimon Hounsou. The film's antagonist is actually Lucius, the once-quiet nephew of Commodus, who has grown up to be every bit as wicked as his uncle. Most notably, Gladiator 2 revisits the Colosseum. There, the emperor watches a simulated naval battle in an amphitheater flooded with water and filled with 100 alligators. It feels like a pointed nod to the modern demand for sequels to be even larger and more over-the-top than the originals. It all builds toward a massive clash between Lucius's Roman enforcers and the underground Christian resistance being trained in secret by Maximus and Juba. But where does it go from there? Is it just more discussions with the Roman gods? A happy family gathering in sunny Elysium? Not quite. Instead, Cavo sends Maximus marching through history: through the Crusades, both World Wars, Vietnam, and eventually right into the Pentagon—essentially a much larger version of that opening montage from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The core idea is that by picking up weapons instead of sticking to non-violent resistance, Maximus has locked humanity into an endless loop of violence. It's a deep, thought-provoking way to end things, though it might not be the feel-good finale audiences were looking for. According to Cavo, Russell Crowe’s take was blunt: “Don’t like it, mate.”

Look, Ridley Scott isn't exactly spilling all the tea about this sequel to that legendary flick everyone's been waiting on for years. From what the US media outlets are saying, the whole thing is supposed to go down about twenty years after the events of the original movie.

I’ve heard this theory floating around that all these modern-day sequels to classic hits aren't actually made out of passion, but are just calculated moves to appease the woke lobby rather than being driven by pure love for the craft.
So, here is my take: the Hollywood woke lobby is essentially bitter and incensed because those legendary old hits didn't feature enough "diversity," and since those films were beloved by an older demographic that isn't nearly as inclined toward their specific woke ideology, they feel slighted. Consequently, in an attempt to both spite that older generation and pacify the constant demands of the woke crowd, they feel compelled to churn out a sequel—one that, naturally, must be populated by a cast pulled straight from some hypothetical diversity checklist.

Larry Walker24 said:Basically, Ridley Scott isn't ready to spill the beans on the sequel to that legendary flick everyone's been waiting on forever. From what the US news outlets are reporting, the whole story is supposed to kick off about twenty years after everything went down in the first movie.

So it's a time jump of twenty years, a sequel set two decades later...

honestly, that's just classic genius from the old master 🙏

Thank God we aren't getting yet another flick where actors of Anglo-Saxon descent play Romans, using those British accents and all that typical Anglo-Saxon mannerism, facial expressions, and micro-expressions.
It’s honestly better to just watch Barbarians, where you actually see a real Roman. A Southern European, a total wog.

Patrick Martin said:I mean, how could anything less than pure genius come from the old master...🙏

🤣 Oh, totally—genius just leaks right out of his nose whenever he starts overthinking this stuff...

Gladiator started feeling like some Hollywood pseudo-historical lemonade way back when HBO's "Rome" dropped in 2005.

That series was incredibly well-researched—just packed with archaeological details, period-accurate customs, and actual historical events.
And Titus Pullo—who, by the way, also becomes a gladiator in one episode—is a much bigger badass than Maximus.

I feel like we’ve become so used to genuine historical reconstructions in TV series nowadays—plus Mel Gibson got us accustomed to hearing the actual period languages in historical films—that these Hollywood lemonades just don't hit the same way they used to. Ridley Scott is going to have his work cut out for him.

What even is this? Gladiator 2? At this rate, when are we getting Titanic 2? It feels like they’re just going to ruin every single great movie by churning out these sequels.

Patrick Martin said:it's set twenty years later, a sequel taking place after about two decades

I mean, how else would you describe it? It’s just genius coming from the old master 🙏

Yeah, sure, let's go ahead and call it genius instead of just being cheap 🤣

They've actually started talks with a possible lead actor, Paul Mescal—you know, the star from 'Normal People'.

https://www.imdb.com/news/ni63900820/?ref_=hm_nw_tp_1