Ridley Scott Casts Paul Mescal in GLADIATOR 2 as Lucius

Director Ridley Scott really is making a sequel to his 2000 blockbuster film Gladiator and now he’s casting it! Paul Mescal will be taking on the lead role in the film. Mescal is taking on the role of Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), and nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the son of Roman leader Marcus Aurelius, who murdered his father and seized the throne.

Russell Crowe’s Maximus saved Lucius and Lucilla while avenging his own family and Lucius looked up to him and idolized him. Maximus certainly made a strong impression on Lucius.

When previously talking about making a Gladiator sequel, Scott said: "You can't just do another Gladiator-type movie. You’ve got to follow…there’s enough components from the first one to pick up the ball and continue it."

The director talked about the lasting appeal of Gladiator and the reasons why he initially jumped on board the film: "First of all, I love doing period films. I love the research. I love to create sort of smells of the period. I think what we did with the first Gladiator…I don't like being critical of other things that have happened before, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hollywood Roman epics, honestly. They felt artificial and so, when I was asked to consider a script, the script was not very good. But the person who gave it to me said, I want to show you one thing."

It was that one thing that sold Scott on the project. That “one thing” was a piece of art created by Gérôme titled “For Those About to Die”. When talking about it, Scott said, "It's a picture of this big painting of the Coliseum, and in the corner, there is this guy, about to tuna fork this poor bastard. He's got this thing in his neck, and he's looking up for permission to kill. I went, bloody hell, that’s never been done properly before. Never. I said, I'll do it. He said you will? I said yes. Did you want to read the script? I said no, and we went off and hit the ground running around the table, and evolved the new material."

Deadline also shares some insight on the casting of Mescal, reporting: “Meetings with Scott for the role began to heat up once a final draft was delivered in November, with Mescal being one of the first to sit down with the director. Although Scott continued to meet with other talent, insiders say it seemed clear to all involved that Mescal clearly was Scott’s top choice following a fantastic meeting between the two.”

I seriously wasn’t sure if Gladiator 2 would be made, but it’s going to happen and I’m curious to see how it turns out!