Already one of the 20 highest-earning movies of the year domestically, Gladiator II has proven the hunger for Ridley Scott‘s epic swords-and-sandals vision has aged well since the 2000 original. After less than two weeks in US theaters and less than three in some overseas markets, the movie continues to make shark-infested waves across the box office, now reaching yet another major milestone. Officially, Gladiator II has surpassed the $320 million mark at the global box office, split between a domestic haul of $112 million and $208 million internationally.
Gladiator II may struggle when compared to the original outing, but Scott’s latest sweeping epic manages to recreate plenty of the verve and scope of the first installment. Earning an impressive 83% audience score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, supported by a certified fresh 71% rating from critics, Gladiator II is one of the better-reviewed entries in Scott’s latter filmography, performing much better than his 2023 historical effort, Napoleon. Although not the best in his illustrious career, Scott won’t mind so much, with Gladiator II now one of the veteran director’s biggest box office triumphs.
Denzel Washington Crafted His Own Backstory for His Impeccable Performance in ‘Gladiator II’
There’s a lot to like about Gladiator II, from the ambitious scope of the many action sequences to the artful direction of some of the movie’s more earnest scenes. However, there might not be a single person leaving Gladiator II who isn’t raving about the performance of the iconic Denzel Washington, with this movie already his most successful ever at the box office. Washington’s scene-stealing performance as the revenge-hungry Macrinus may be based on a real-life individual, but Washington’s process involved crafting his very own personal backstory to help bring the intricacies of Macrinus from the page to the screen. This is something the Oscar winner spoke about in an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, saying when asked how much of his backstory he created:
“All of it, pretty much. You start with the document. If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage. But
I was given the freedom to develop in my mind and in my heart and in my soul
— what was left of it [laughs] — what my past was. And what I would say to
you
or a character was, nine times out of nine, to dominate you, to take something from you, to use you.”
Gladiator II is playing in theaters now.
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