Ridley Scott Says ​​Gladiator II Is Just ‘as Good’ as Oscar-Winning Original (Exclusive)

Ridley Scott shares his thoughts on the upcoming Gladiator II movie!

Addressing exclusively to PEOPLE at Alien: Romulus At the premiere on Monday, August 12, the 86-year-old director gave a glimpse of 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 just as well.”

Gladiator II hits theaters on November 22, 2024, starring Paul Mescal and supporting Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington.

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First Gladiator won five Academy Awards at the 2001 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (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 revenge on Commodus for killing his family.

Gladiator II will follow from previous events as Commodus’ nephew Lucius (Mescal) begins his fight.

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Ridley Scott at the UK premiere of ‘Napoleon’ on November 16, 2023.

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“I thought [first] the movie was, as it were, completely satisfying, creatively complete, so why mess with it, right?” Scott told Deadline in November 2023, “But these cycles go on and on and on, repeating themselves globally for the last 20 years. It started to be spelled out as an obvious thing and that’s how it developed.”

In July, Paramount Pictures released a trailer for the film. Fans were able to see a glimpse of Mescal’s Lucius as he entered the ring at the Colosseum.

The trailer also teased a battle between Mescal and Pascal’s characters — and a gladiatorial battle with a rhinoceros.

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Source: HIS Education