The first screening of Gladiator II took place on Friday night, and early reactions are already circulating on social media.
The sequel to the 2000 film was shown at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, where media and film critics got their first look at the film starring Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, and Pedro Pascal.
In Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, Mescal plays the grown-up Lucius Verus II, the nephew of Emperor Commodus from the original film, played by Joaquin Phoenix. After being enslaved not as a ruler but as a gladiator who fights for revenge and power, Lucius returns to Rome and attempts to restore the glory of Rome to his people.
The cast also includes Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Derek Jacobi, Rory McCann, Fred Hechinger, Matt Lucas, Mae Karamawy, Tim McInerney, Peter Mensah, and Alec Utgoff. The movie will be released in theaters on November 22nd.
Gladiator II was widely released by Paramount Pictures on Thanksgiving after the original film released more than 20 years ago won five Oscars and grossed $465.4 million worldwide. I am planning to do so. The first trailer, released in July, also racked up 215 million cross-platform views worldwide in just a few days.
Critics’ full reviews of Gladiator II won’t drop until closer to the film’s release date, but read on for a sample of the first reactions to the film after its release.
