On a special point that lands towards the end of the 2024 movie schedule, strength and honor await a new generation. As Gladiator II is getting set to step back into the Colosseum this fall, there’s going to be a lot of stories about director Ridley Scott’s skills behind the camera.
But if there’s any member of the Gladiator II cast that has quite possibly the best stories about the franchise, it’d have to be returning actor Connie Nielsen. Her latest comments about reuniting with Scott and his legendary creation have me even more excited to see this long awaited legacy-quel.
Speaking with EW about reprising the role of Lucilla, Nielsen provided a fantastic picture of what it was like to be on the actual set of this long-developing follow-up. Keeping that in mind, take a look at the first piece of the Gladiator II gushing:
Ridley has access to technologies that, back at the time of Gladiator [in 2000], were still somewhat in their infancy. This time, you will see what I saw with my own eyes, which is that everything has been enhanced through the latest technology. You can just imagine that thing that Ridley does so well, which is the mixture of the actual real, old-fashioned film craft — real sets, real people, real everything, and quite extraordinary technology just even in creating those real things — and then add to that the new tools that he has at his fingertips.
As someone familiar with Connie Nielsen’s favorite Gladiator memory, this story absolutely tracks. In the modern leg of Ridley Scott’s career, the man has always mixed very practical delights along with CGI tricks and treats mixed in. The director has a pretty steady hand when it comes to knowing what to keep and what to ditch, which can be seen in some of the scenes and creatures that Scott has tweaked/deleted from pictures like Prometheus, and yes, even Gladiator.
Without being able to balance the “magnificent spectacle” of Gladiator II, or any other project he’s tackled throughout his career, Alien’s director wouldn’t have the reputation he currently enjoys. Further testimonials from the set of his would-be 2024 hit can attest to that much, as further comments from Connie Nielsen explain the purpose it all serves:
Ridley really wants people to have visceral experiences that they then express when they’re on camera, and you get that experience to walk onto this Colosseum, which was as astounding as it was back when I walked onto the Colosseum floor 25 years ago. It’s the same. And it was a very emotional experience for me. I had so many wonderful memories from the time of doing it and it was kind of marvelous to look back and then all of a sudden be there again. It was frankly quite mind-boggling to have that experience.
Ridley Scott didn’t have to make Gladiator II, and the man himself understands that quite keenly. But now that we’ve seen not only Gladiator II’s first trailer, but also learned about Scott’s demands for making the sequel, there’s no denying that this is the only way the next chapter should have happened. With the tightrope between the action of CGI and practical being walked finely yet again, the hype surrounding making the movie is primed to translate into rather promising results.
Considering that the finished product can still wow Connie Nielsen 25 years after making the original picture, it’s a good sign that us fans should be preparing to be similarly impressed. With that in mind, here’s a friendly reminder that Gladiator II’s release date is November 22nd, and you can currently stream the previous entry by using your Paramount+ subscription.