Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.
Acting
Denzel's Macrinus is Shakespearean scheming at its finest.
Production
The flooded Colosseum naval battle is practical effects madness.
Direction
Ridley Scott at 86 still shoots action like he's 40.
Director
Ridley Scott
Paul Mescal
Lucius
Denzel Washington
Macrinus
Pedro Pascal
General Acacius
Connie Nielsen
Lucilla
Joseph Quinn
Emperor Geta
Fred Hechinger
Emperor Caracalla
Lior Raz
Viggo
Derek Jacobi
Gracchus
Peter Mensah
Jugurtha
Matt Lucas
Master of Ceremonies
Alexander Karim
Ravi
Yuval Gonen
Arishat
Richard McCabe
Quaestor
Tim McInnerny
Senator Thraex
Alec Utgoff
Darius
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The monkey attack was originally a shark sequence; test audiences found it too silly. Ridley Scott disagreed and pivoted to primates.
The twin emperors Geta and Caracalla were real historical figures who actually ruled together and were indeed murdered by each other—Scott just cranked the chaos to eleven.
US
