Twenty-four years after Best Picture Oscar winner Gladiator reinvented the swords and sandals genre, its sequel, Gladiator II, is finally entering the arena. Paramount began overseas rollout Wednesday on the continuation of Ridley Scott’s Roman Empire action saga.
Through Friday, 63 international box office markets will be open — the full offshore footprint, save for China which goes in step with domestic on November 22.
The Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington and Connie Nielsen-starrer is eyeing an international debut in the $80M-$90M range with the possibility of upside.
This one is tricky to comp since the original was so long ago when the world was a vastly different place. We are currently in a wonky moviegoing climate and older audiences may not rush out; however, reviews are strong and buzz is high. We hear previews that played in France earlier this week went down a treat, and Wednesday’s start led play in the market. G2 was also tops in Korea in its Wednesday previews.
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The filmmakers and cast have been on a global tour spanning seven countries across four continents. The international portion of the tour kicked off with Mescal and Washington appearing on The Graham Norton Show in the UK while a three-day global junket included Mescal, Washington, Pascal, Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger and Scott speaking with outlets from over 30 countries, and included a special Korean press conference.
Mescal, Nielsen and Hechinger, along with producer Michael Pruss, headed on to Sydney for the Australia premiere held in Darling Harbor where they were welcomed to the carpet by a 40-piece orchestra before introducing the movie to over 2,400 guests.
From Oz, Mescal, Washington, Nielsen and Hechinger were joined by producers Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher and Pruss in Tokyo for a pre-premiere red carpet event at the Ariake Coliseum. After Japan, Mescal journeyed to Dublin for the Irish premiere while Nielsen traveled to Copenhagen for the Danish premiere. Washington and Nielsen then attended an event screening in Paris this past Sunday. (Check out photos below)
Last night, the international portion of the tour culminated with a star-studded Royal Film Performance in London. King Charles III was in attendance as were such guests as Andrew Scott, Chloé Zhao, Jodie Turner-Smith and Idris Elba.
The gang next heads to Los Angeles for the U.S. premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre.
