Gladiator 2 was filmed 90 minutes before the strike was called off, the baboon attack

Revealed by Ridley Scott A recent New Yorker profile He is editing the 90 minutes of footage he captured for „Gladiator 2” before the Hollywood strikes halted production. Scott was filming the long-awaited „Gladiator” sequel in Morocco when filming was halted indefinitely. He cannot begin production until the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved.

As The New Yorker reported: “He was preparing to shoot 'Gladiator 2,’ starring Paul Mezcal, when the strike was resolved as SAG-AFTRA and the studios renegotiated. He said, 'Let’s shoot on Monday.’ (Talks broke down after a week.) Meanwhile, he polished off 90 minutes, including a scene where the hero fights a baboon; He was haunted by a video of baboons attacking tourists in Johannesburg, saying: 'Baboons are carnivores. Can you hang from that ceiling by your left leg for two hours? No! A baboon can.

A pack of baboons pitted Russell Crowe against Joaquin Phoenix in Scott’s original „Gladiator.” How to raise stakes? Mezcal joins Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger and Pedro Pascal in the sequel.

„Gladiator 2” is set years after the events of the original and follows Lucius (Mescal), nephew of Commodus (Phoenix). As time went on, original star Grove was not involved in the sequel. Grove won the Academy Award for Best Actor for „Gladiator.” He He has repeatedly said Scott or anyone associated with „Gladiator 2” did not approach him because the sequel had nothing to do with the character he played in the original. At the Karlovy Film Festival in July, Grove urged the press to stop asking him about the „Gladiator” sequel.

„They want to pay me for questions about a movie I’m not in,” Crowe said. “It has nothing to do with me. I died in that world. Under six feet. But I admit to a certain tinge of jealousy because it reminds me of what it meant to me when I was young and in my life.

Mezcal said earlier Esquire UK He had no idea „what we’d be talking about” regarding discussions with Crowe. He added, „I love hearing his stories from the shoot, but the character is completely different.”

Paramount Pictures is set to open „Gladiator 2” in theaters on Nov. 22, 2024, though that could be delayed depending on the outcome of the SAG-AFTRA strike.