Ridley Scott has found a possible protagonist for the sequel to “Gladiator”.

Director Ridley Scott has found a potential protagonist for the planned sequel to his monumental film «Gladiator» (2000). Irish actor Paul Mescal (26, “Woman in the Dark”, “Aftersun”) is negotiating roles with the team, US trade magazines “Variety” and “Deadline.com” reported Friday (local time). Mescal was nominated for an Emmy for Leading Actor in the relationship series “Normal People” (2020).

In 2018 it was already known that the 85-year-old Briton Scott wanted to give a sequel to his award-winning historical epic. The screenplay is from David Scarpa, who previously wrote the scripts for Scott’s kidnapping thriller All the Money in the World and his ongoing project Napoleon.

In the original film, Russell Crowe played ex-general and celebrated gladiator Maximus, who slays his rival, the scheming emperor’s son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), in single combat and eventually dies himself. The blockbuster won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Crowe for Leading Actor.

The sequel will focus on Lucius, the now grown son of Commodus’ sister Lucilla (Connie Nielsen in the original film). Initially, nothing was known about a possible start of the recordings.

Scott is currently in post-production on “Napoleon”, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the power-hungry French emperor, produced by Apple TV+. (sda/dpa)