After making their debut at the Met Gala this week, Pedro Pascal’s knee is staying booked and busy. A horde of eligible actors entered the Gladiator 2 casting arena and Pascal has emerged victorious, Deadline reports. Pascal is in the final discussions to star in an unnamed role in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel for Paramount. He will be joining Normal People star Paul Mescal, who will star as the lead, and their last names already sound beautiful next to each other. We can already picture the press tour: Mescal and Pascal Take Rome! The original 2000 movie starring Russell Crowe as Maximus won five out of the 12 Oscars that it was nominated for, including Best Picture. So, you know, no pressure! The follow-up will center on Mescal as Lucius, a Roman with some pretty well-known relatives: He’s the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), and the grandson of Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). Gladiator 2 will be directed and produced by Scott, with Napoleon screenwriter David Scarpa handling the script. Costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max, who both worked on the original movie, are also onboard to bring us back to around 200 BCE, when the movie will reportedly be set. According to Deadline, the movie, which has been in development since 2018, will finally release on November 22, 2024. Hopefully we’ll be entertained with more information soon.
This post has been updated.