We are most definitely entertained. The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Barry Keoghan, the Academy Award-nominated actor, is in talks to join Paul Mescal in Gladiator 2, Ridley Scott's long gestating sequel to his 2000 historical epic, Gladiator.
Keoghan, who like his co-star Mescal, missed out on an Oscar this past Sunday night, is set to play a character named Emperor Geta. Geta was a real Roman emperor, however it remains to be seen on whether this will be historically accurate, or just the borrowing of fact for the benefit of fiction.
Keoghan is coming into the film off the back of a highly successful awards run, including grabbing a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at this weekend's Oscars for his heartbreaking turn in The Banshees of Inisherin alongside his fellow nominated co-stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Kerry Condon, while his director Martin McDonagh was up for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
His unsettling onscreen appearances have seen him cast in antiheroic roles, or as characters who are offbeat and played with a sense of unease, as best seen in his breakout role in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, which also starred Farrell. He is also no stranger to big budget filmmaking, having appeared in two mega franchise movies - Marvel's Eternals, for Chloé Zhao, and DC's The Batman, in which he made a cameo appearance as The Joker in the Matt Reeves film. A sequel to The Batman was recently announced, with Keoghan set to reprise his role.
Mescal will be playing the character of Lucius, the son of Lucilla - played by Connie Nielsen in the original film. Gladiator shot its star Russell Crowe to fame with his role as General Maximus Decimus Meridius, a former Roman general who was forced into becoming a gladiator under the tyrannical rule of the self-appointed Roman emperor Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix. Mescal's character is the nephew of Commodus, and appeared in the original as played by Spencer Treat Clark.
Gladiator was a massive financial hit at the worldwide box office on release, grossing $457 million worldwide. It was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, winning 5, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe's role as Maximus in 2001.
Scott will once again pair with David Scarpa, the screenwriter behind All the Money in the World, and who also wrote his passion project about Napoleon Bonaparte, previously titled 'Kitbag' but now going by Napoleon, which will also reunite Scott with Gladiator star Phoenix. Paramount has set a release date of November 22, 2024 for the film.
Check out our interview with Keoghan below: