Gladiator 2 Features Epic Baboon Fight, Says Ridley Scott

We’ve not even had the first official image for Gladiator 2 yet, but we already know about one of the film’s epic set-pieces: a vicious baboon fight.

In a profile with The New Yorker, Gladiator 2 director Ridley Scott revealed a sequence he’s been editing involves lead Paul Mescal in a battle with a pack of the primates. To ensure the baboons’ movements were accurate, Scott reportedly watched real footage of them attacking tourists in Johannesburg.

“Baboons are carnivores,” says Scott. “Can you hang from that roof for two hours by your left leg? No! A baboon can.”

It’s the last Scott has been permitted to do with the film for a while. That’s because soon after he edited the sequence, the SAG-AFTRA strike shut down production. Scott was mid-shoot on the Gladiator sequel in Morocco.

The original released in 2000, and won the Oscar for best picture. Its follow-up features returning characters Derek Jacobi and Djimon Hounsou, alongside Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger and Pedro Pascal. Here's your first look at the cast of Gladiator 2.

Set decades years after, Mescal plays the now grown-up nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).

Gladiator 2 has a provisional release date of November 22, 2024, although that could very well change depending on when the SAG-AFTRA strike ends.