Paramount revealed the first bloody images of Gladiator II at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. The trailer shows Paul Mescal, the star of the new epic, fighting in a Coliseum filled with rhinos, bloodthirsty baboons and even Roman warships, while a shadowy advisor played by Denzel looks on Washington.
The film “is possibly even more extraordinary than the first,” assured director Ridley Scott in a video broadcast at the Ceasars Palace casino, a place of circumstance with its settings evoking ancient Rome. Released in 2000, the first Gladiator won the Oscar for best film, already with Ridley Scott at the helm. After Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, whose characters succumb in the original feature film, a new generation of actors takes over in this second part, scheduled for November in American theaters.
Paul Mescal plays the gladiator Lucius. This nephew of the evil emperor appeared briefly as a child in the first film. Pedro Pascal plays an army general. And the mysterious character played by Denzel Washington seems to be plotting to overthrow the Roman Empire. “Rome must fall. I just have to give him a helping hand,” he says in the trailer.
The images were received with enthusiasm by the audience. Enough to bring some comfort to the heart of Paramount Pictures, one of the oldest Hollywood studios, currently facing an uncertain future. Its parent company has just started negotiations for a merger with the Skydance studio. And this, while the year 2024 promises to be a lean period for all studios.
The actors’ and writers’ strike that paralyzed Hollywood for six months last year delayed the production of many films, which will translate into a drop in the studio’s revenues at the global box office. Paramount executives nevertheless delivered an optimistic presentation Thursday at the CinemaCon trade show during which studios unveil their future releases to American theater operators.
They notably announced several new films such as Quietly: Day 1, Smile 2 and Blue
