Although the original Gladiator ended with the demise of Russell Crowe’s Maximus, this saga isn’t over yet. Gladiator 2 will point the spotlight on the now-grown Lucius, and after years spent in development, the sequel finally began at the beginning of June. However, it’s been revealed that a stunt accident on the set of the Ridley Scott-directed movie resulted in multiple crew members being injured.
A spokesperson for Paramount Pictures confirmed to Variety and other outlets that on June 7, six crew members were injured while Gladiator 2 was shooting a stunt sequence in Morocco towards the end of the day. Six people received treatment for burn injuries, with four of them still in the hospital and the other two being treated locally and then discharged. None of the sequel’s cast members were affected, and this spokesperson described these injuries as “non-life-threatening.” You can read their full statement below:
While filming a planned stunt sequence on the set of the ‘Gladiator’ sequel, an accident occurred during which several crew members experienced non-life-threatening injuries. The safety and full medical services teams on-site were able to act quickly so that those who were impacted immediately received necessary care. They are all in stable condition and continue to receive treatment… The well-being of the cast and crew is of the utmost importance to us, and we have strict health and safety procedures in place on all our productions. We will continue monitoring the situation and taking all necessary precautions as we resume production.
It’s good to hear that no one’s life was put in danger by these injuries, and like the spokesperson indicated, hopefully steps will be taken to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again. Still, Gladiator 2 is far from the first film/TV production where things have gone wrong during the course of shooting. Just last September, Kate Winslet was hospitalized while working on the upcoming movie Lee, and in January, Kai Ko Chen-tung from the upcoming Netflix series Kai Ko Chen-tung was suffered “facial disfigurement” after being hit with a camera drone. We wish the Gladiator 2 crew members who are still in the hospital a speedy recovery.
Though specific plot details are being kept a tightly-guarded secret, we have learned over the last several months who’s comprising the core Gladiator 2 cast. Along with Paul Mescal taking over the role of Lucius from Spencer Treat Clark, his co-stars include Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi and Djimon Hounsou reprising their roles from the first movie, and the other newcomers who’ve come aboard are Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, May Calamity, Lior Ray, Peter Mensah and Matt Lucas. Along with Ridley Scott sitting back in the director’s chair like he did on Gladiator, David Scarpa wrote the script.
Gladiator 2 arrives in theaters on November 22, 2024, and is just one of many highly-anticipated 2024 movie releases on the calendar. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for updates on how it’s coming along, and find out what 2023 movie releases are left to come out.