The cast of the highly anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator has grown, with Oscar nominated actor Barry Keoghan reportedly being in talks to join the film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, nothing is set in stone as of now, but should the actor sign on to the film, he’ll be starring alongside the previously announced Paul Mescal, who was the first cast member to be announced for the sequel. Keoghan is coming off of a huge 2022, as he appeared in The Batman as the Joke and starred in Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin — a role which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
The sequel to Gladiator will be led by Best Actor Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Aftersun) and is set to be released in theaters on November 22, 2024. Rather than taking place before the first film and keeping Maximus in the spotlight, Mescal will be playing Lucius, the son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla.
Scott will once again direct Gladiator 2. It’s the director’s next project after finishing Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix (who also starred in the original Gladiator). While a sequel has been hinted at for well over a decade, the current iteration started becoming a reality in 2018 after Paramount came on to help develop the project.
The script for the movie was written by David Scarpa. Producing the Gladiator sequel will be Scott and Scott Free president Michael Pruss, alongside Red Wagon Entertainment’s Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher. Universal also has the right to partner on the project once it is packaged as they co-produced the original along with DreamWorks. Other crew returning from the original movie are costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max.