There’s no doubt that Ridley Scott’s Gladiator is one of the best historical films of all time, and many would say that the 2000 picture is perfect as a standalone offering. However, there have been calls for a follow-up movie for many years, and now that long-awaited title is confirmed.

Gladiator 2 is set for release in 2024. It will serve as a sequel to the original, rather than a prequel like some had expected. The cast is incredible and, with Scott in the director’s chair, it has the potential to be just as big as its predecessor.

Gladiator 2 Could Be More Commercially Successful Than the Original

It has been more than 20 years since the release of Gladiator, and it’s interesting to think how well the film could have performed if it had come out in the age of the modern blockbuster. It earned an impressive global box office total of $503 million in 2000 and did this without turning to the franchise model that many big-budget offerings use for marketing nowadays.

Since the release of Gladiator, there have been various games and related offerings in the genre. If these had been around at the time of the first picture, they could have boosted its success even more. The new film could benefit from the popularity of Ancient Rome as a popular setting and theme within the entertainment industry. Mythology, in general, appears to be a winning theme, with players responding favourably to Nordic, Greek, and Roman-themed titles. For example, video games like Rome: Total War and Assassin’s Creed Origins have firmly established the era within the mainstream and have appeared to a wide demographic of players.

Meanwhile, in the online casino industry, there are also several offerings with a Rome-related premise. For instance, there’s the officially franchised Gladiator slot game at 888casino – the site is rated as one of the top Ontario online casinos, thanks to its impressive deposit match bonus upon sign-up. With this kind of reach to a sprawling and diverse audience, owing to a well-established casino franchise continuing to provide the title, the Gladiator/Rome hype lives on.

This time around, a contemporary edition of the game to coincide with the release of the upcoming movie would be incredibly well received by audiences.

What do we Know About the New Picture?

There’s a lot to get excited about with the upcoming offering from Scott. For one, the cast is impressive. Some of the biggest names attached to the project include Denzel Washington and Sir Derek Jacobi. Pedro Pascal is also set to star in the picture, and this could act as the springboard he needs to go from television sensation to Hollywood A-lister. Other names involved include Paul Mescal and Djimon Hounsou, with the former taking on the lead part and the latter reprising his role from the original.

Unfortunately, Gladiator served as the conclusion to Russell Crowe’s arc as Maximus Decimus Meridius. However, his final act was to save Commodus’s nephew, whom the new film will focus on. Mescal is set to star as Lucius, who is a grown man. Aside from that, few details about the new picture have been revealed. However, there’s little doubt that it will draw on some aspects that made the original so popular. That means viewers can expect to see plenty of fights in the arena.

Gladiator 2 will be released in November next year and has the potential to be one of the biggest blockbusters of 2024. The smart money would be on the new offering to outdo its predecessor at the box office.