Connie Nielsen Returning for ‘Gladiator’ Sequel; Joseph Quinn To Play Emperor Caracalla
The cast for the upcoming Gladiator sequel is heating up, with Deadline reporting that Connie Nielsen is in final negotiations to return as Lucilla, Lucius’ mother, in what will be the first actor coming back from the first 2000 film.
The story picks up years after the events of the Russell Crowe-led film and will focus on Lucius, nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Paul Mescal (Aftersun) is playing the older version of the character, with Denzel Washington playing Lucius’ mentor, who is also a former fighter. Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) is also part of the cast. According to Deadline, the mother-son relationship is expected to play a major part in the sequel. Additionally, Stranger Things breakout star Joseph Quinn is also boarding the cast as Emperor Caracalla.
The film is being set up at Paramount, with Universal, the studio behind the first film, also on board. It’s also a buzzy one in Hollywood at the moment, with every major young actor throwing their name in the ring for Mescal’s role late last year, and agencies sending their best picks for other parts in it. Ridley Scott is currently deep in post-production for Napoleon, which premiered its first footage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas just this week, but intends to shoot the Gladiator sequel later in the year.
Connie Nielsen made a splash in Hollywood with her role in the first Gladiator, but besides a short run as Queen Hippolyta in various DC films, she is not seen much in American movies (she did have a role in 2021’s sleeper hit Nobody). According to the report, it was important for Scott to bring back some familiar faces from the original cast, but because of on-screen deaths, there weren’t a lot of available options. Nielsen was apparently looped in from the very beginning of development.
Quinn has also been making some heads turn in Hollywood after his role as Eddie Munson in Stranger Things season 4. He was cast in the upcoming A Quiet Place: Day One, and made such an impression on Paramount’s executives after he was able to hold his own acting opposite Lupita Nyong’o that they found a role for him in another of their major new films. (Footage for the A Quiet Place spin-off was screened at CinemaCon this week and people have been raving about it.)
The untitled Gladiator sequel has been set for a November 22, 2024, date.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
