With “Gladiator II” we can expect an absolute historical spectacle in the cinema this year. Pedro Pascal has now stressed that the fight scenes will be really tough – and that he never wants to fight Paul Mescal again!
We still have to be a little patient until “Gladiator II” is released in German cinemas: On November 14, 2024, the sequel to the sandal film milestone will be released in local cinemas. And the anticipation could hardly be greater! Not only because we can finally expect a groundbreaking historical spectacle on the big screen again, but also because Ridley Scott (“Napoleon”) has a cast in his belated sequel to “Gladiator” that will make you click your tongue.
While Paul Mescal (“All Of Us Strangers”) follows in Russell Crowe’s footsteps as Lucius, the nephew of Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) from part 1, and plays the eponymous gladiator, Connie Nielsen (again as Lucilla, mother of Lucius), Denzel Washington (“Man On Fire”) as Macrinus, “Stranger Things” star Joseph Quinn as Caracalla, Fred Hechinger (“The White Lotus”) as Geta and Pedro Pascal (“The Last Of Us”) as General Acacius are also in the cast.
That’s why the fight scenes were really exhausting for Pedro Pascal
The first pictures of “Gladiator II” were released yesterday. They also showed Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal facing each other in the arena and apparently having a pretty grueling duel. And that is exactly what Pascal talked about in the accompanying interview with Vanity Fair reference is made. It seems that the fight scenes with his acting colleague Mescal took quite a toll on “The Mandalorian” star:
“It’s brutal, man. I named him Brickwall Paul. He’s gotten so strong. I would rather get thrown off a building than fight him again. Someone so fit, so talented and so much younger. Besides the fact that Ridley Scott is an absolute genius, Paul was one of the big reasons I put my body through this experience.”
So that sounds like a real challenge that Pedro Pascal has faced in order to be able to keep up with Paul Mescal as best as possible in the fight sequences. We will find out how spectacular the whole thing will really look in the end on November 14, 2024, when “Gladiator II” opens in German cinemas.
However, you will have to do without one crucial element from the original in the sequel – namely the music by Hans Zimmer. The composer himself explained why this is missing:
“Gladiator 2”: This is why one of the most important and best elements of the original will be missing from the historical spectacle
