The SAG-AFTRA strike officially begins midnight on July 14, and the Writers Guild of America strike has been going on since May 2. So with members of both organizations engaged in their respective labor disputes, this will obviously impact numerous Hollywood film and TV productions. However, regarding Gladiator 2, the long-awaited sequel to Russell Crowe’s Gladiator and one of the movies on the 2024 release schedule currently shooting, it’s being rumored that the Ridley Scott-helmed sequel has found a creative way to keep the cameras rolling in the midst of the SAG and WGA strikes.
Although it was reported by outlets like Variety that Gladiator 2 is among the high-profile international productions internationally that will shut down SAG strike kicks off, APACHA 194, with that acronym standing for Alliance of Practitioners, Artists, and Crew for Hollywood Abroad, claims that the sequel won’t grind entirely to a halt. Instead, it will “continue with actor doubles and crowds, shooting as much as possible with the hope of negotiations being settled soon,” and the “main actors” will allegedly be kept “close” by. The tweet also posed the question of if “other offshore productions” could follow suit. This information should be taken with a grain of salt, but it is a curious way to circumvent what will soon be a major obstacle.
With the current WGA strike going for over two months now with no end in sight, it’s entirely possible that the same will happen with the SAG-AFTRA strike. So while it’s understandable to hope that this particular strike will end soon, if the Gladiator 2 crew will indeed have to focus on shooting doubles and crowds, there’s only so much footage that can be shot before the leading actors are required again. At that point, production will need to completely shut down until the strike is resolved. Still, it’s worth waiting to see if any reputable outlets or official sources confirm if Gladiator 2 is indeed taking this course of action.
As for the actors who will be going on strike, the Gladiator 2 cast is led by Paul Mescal as Lucius, who was previously played by Spencer Treat Clark in the original Gladiator. Mescal’s castmates include Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi and Dijon Hounsou reprising their roles from the 2000 movie, as well as Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, among others. As mentioned earlier, Ridley Scott resumed his directing duties for the sequel, while David Scarpa wrote the script. Gladiator 2 began filming in June, though early into production, there was a stunt accident that injured multiple crew members.
Gladiator 2 is currently slated on November 22, 2024, although if production ends up stalling for a long time, that release date will obviously need to change. We’ll keep you posted on where things stand with the sequel as more updates come in.
