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Before the pandemic, indie distributors generally opened their awards contenders in New York and Los Angeles in order to build word of mouth, versus launching nationwide and risk losing theaters quickly if a film didn’t bring in traffic Platform releases have since become less commonPrior to the reenacted naval battle within the Colosseum, the announcer claims that the gladiators would be reenacting the Battle of Salamis between the Trojans and the Persians In reality, the Battle of Salamis was fought in 480 BCE between the Greek city-states and the Persians, with no Trojan involvement
Though Wicked will face some direct competition from Moana 2, it would seem better set up for a long and lucrative run in theaters than Gladiator II Though some have dinged Wicked for running long, at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the film has had mostly stellar reviews Audiences gave it an “A” on CinemaScore The reception for Wicked has been strong enough that Oscar prognosticators expect it to be a contender for best picture at the Academy Awards, among other categories
In March 2023, Barry Keoghan entered negotiations to join the cast in the role of Emperor Caracalla while Denzel Washington joined the cast Regarding Scott and his brother Tony as great filmmakers who never miss, Washington accepted the role out of interest to work with the inspirational Scott brother again after their previous collaboration in American Gangster Additionally, John Mathieson was set to return as cinematographer for the film Scott didn't conceive Macrinus with Washington in mind, but felt inspired to cast him after seeing Jean-Léon Gérôme's painting Moorish Bath, which depicted a black bearded man with a jeweled Dizzy Gillespie-like hat in orange and blue silk, inspiring the character's appearance, plus Washington's status as a method actor
In April 2023, it was announced that Connie Nielsen and Djimon Hounsou would reprise their roles as Lucilla and Juba respectively, while Joseph Quinn was added to the cast as Emperor Geta In May 2023, Pedro Pascal, May Calamawy, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah and Matt Lucas joined the cast of the film, with Fred Hechinger entering negotiations to play Caracalla after Keoghan had to drop out over scheduling conflicts with Saltburn Jacobi reprises his role as Senator Gracchus from the first film Similarly to Mescal, Pascal underwent intense gladiator training for his role, which he found challenging, but deemed the experience the most exciting of his career due to growing up with Scott's films
In December, Hounsou announced that, despite initially being involved, he would not be returning for the sequel due to scheduling conflictsFor librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more“We saw an opportunity to dominate a weekend and get a very large running start into the Thanksgiving holiday,” said Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal
“We’re very confident that it will play ridiculously well through the Christmas corridor and into the new year”Going into the weekend, box office was down about 11% from last year and some 25% from pre-pandemic times That meant this week’s two headline films led a much-needed resurgence for theaters With Moana 2 releasing Wednesday, Hollywood might be looking at historic sales over the Thanksgiving holiday
In the Colosseum, Lucius emulates the late legendary gladiator Maximus to win fights Lucilla recognizes Lucius as her son, whom she sent away from Rome as a child to protect him from assassination by rivals for the throne During a naval battle in the Colosseum, Lucius leads his side to victory and fires a crossbow at the spectating Acacius, but fails to kill him After the battle, Lucilla tries to reconnect with her son but Lucius angrily rebuffs her
He resents being forced to flee Rome while his mother lived in luxury, and is upset that her new husband caused Arishat's death“We had roughly 400 global brand partners on Wicked, so the campaign was inescapable,” said Orr “And our cast, led by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, worked so hard on this They were everywhere
They did everything we asked them to do”Egyptian-Palestinian actress May Calamawy, who was originally set to play an important character, appears in the film in an uncredited non-speaking background role as Macrinus's companion Some critics linked her omission to the ongoing war in Gaza and her support for Palestine in the Israeli–Palestinian conflictIn June 2001, developments for a Gladiator follow-up began for either a prequel or sequel, with David Franzoni in early negotiations to once again serve as screenwriter
Ridley Scott's logic to make a sequel was that, even though Maximus Decimus Meridius died at the end of the original film, what happened to Lucius Verus was left ambiguous, considering the questions about his whereabouts perfect for a second film The following year, a sequel was announced to be moving forward with John Logan serving as screenwriter The plot, set 15 years later, included the Praetorian Guards ruling Rome, and an older Lucius—the son of Lucilla in Gladiator—searching for the truth about his biological father Franzoni signed on as producer, alongside Douglas Wick and Walter Parkes
In December 2002, the film's plot was announced to include prequel events regarding the parentage of Lucius, as well as sequel events depicting the resurrection of Maximus, the main character of the original film The producers and Russell Crowe, who portrayed Maximus, collaboratively and extensively researched ancient Roman beliefs regarding the afterlife Although Crowe and Scott had discussed how to bring the former back by having his character resurrect, Scott concluded that Crowe would have to return either as Maximus' double or play another character By September 2003, Scott announced that the script was completed, while confirming that the story would primarily center on Lucius
Gladiator II has also enjoyed good reviews, particularly for Washington’s charismatic performance Audience scores, though, were weaker, with ticket buyers giving it a “B” on CinemaScore The film will make up for some of that, however, with robust international sales It launched in many overseas markets a week ago, and has already accrued $165
The following year, a sequel was announced to be moving forward with John Logan serving as screenwriter. The plot, set 15 years later, included the Praetorian Guards ruling Rome, and an older Lucius—the son of Lucilla in Gladiator—searching for the truth about his biological father. Franzoni signed on as producer, alongside Douglas Wick and Walter Parkes. In December 2002, the film's plot was announced to include prequel events regarding the parentage of Lucius, as well as sequel events depicting the resurrection of Maximus, the main character of the original film. The producers and Russell Crowe, who portrayed Maximus, collaboratively and extensively researched ancient Roman beliefs regarding the afterlife. Although Crowe and Scott had discussed how to bring the former back by having his character resurrect, Scott concluded that Crowe would have to return either as Maximus' double or play another character. By September 2003, Scott announced that the script was completed, while confirming that the story would primarily center on Lucius.Gladiator II has also enjoyed good reviews, particularly for Washington’s charismatic performance. Audience scores, though, were weaker, with ticket buyers giving it a “B” on CinemaScore. The film will make up for some of that, however, with robust international sales. It launched in many overseas markets a week ago, and has already accrued $165.5m internationally.
