Gladiator II hits theaters today, November 22nd, but we’re already thinking about the home video release. As is usually the case with big movie releases, studios waste no time opening up pre-orders for the Blu-ray releases. What’s more the limited edition Steelbook 4K Blu-ray releases have sold out quickly in many cases, and we expect that could be true with Ridley Scott’s sequel starring Paul Mescal.
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That said, you can secure a copy of the Gladiator II Steelbook here on Amazon now while it lasts. The standard edition can be found here on Amazon as well. Note that significant discounts are expected, and pre-order customers will automatically get them. Details on the special features and the release date will be added to this article when they become available.
Gladiator II Limited Edition 4K Blu-ray Steelbook Edition
On a related note, Back in 2020 Paramount Home Entertainment released a 4K Steelbook Blu-ray to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s original Gladiator film starring Russel Crowe. If you missed it the first time around, you now have a second chance thanks to Gladiator 2. You can order the Gladiator 4K Steelbook Blu-ray here on Amazon and here at Walmart now. Presumably, the Steelbook edition contains the same special features as the standard Gladiator 4K Blu-ray, which are listed below.
4K BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:
Introduction by Ridley Scott (Extended Edition)
Audio Commentary by director Ridley Scott and actor Russell Crowe (Extended Edition)
Audio Commentary by director Ridley Scott, editor Pietro Scalia and cinematographer John Mathieson (Theatrical Edition)
BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:
Introduction by Ridley Scott (Extended Edition)
Audio Commentary by director Ridley Scott and actor Russell Crowe (Extended Edition)
Audio Commentary by director Ridley Scott, editor Pietro Scalia and cinematographer John Mathieson (Theatrical Edition)
The Scrolls of Knowledge
Deleted Scenes Index with Optional Commentary by Ridley Scott
Visions from Elysium: Topic Portal
Strength and Honor: Creating the World of Gladiator
Image & Design: Storyboard Demonstration, Storyboard Archive, Costume Design Gallery, Photo Galleries
Abandoned Sequences & Deleted Scenes
The Aurelian Archives – My Gladiator Journal by Spencer Treat Clark
AND MORE…
What Is Gladiator 2 About?
In Gladiator 2, Lucius—the grandson of Rome’s former emperor Marcus Aurelius and son of Lucilla—lives with his wife and child in Numidia. Roman soldiers led by general Marcus Acacius invade, forcing Lucius into slavery. Inspired by the story of Maximus, Lucius resolves to fight as a gladiator while opposing the rule of the young emperors Caracalla and Geta. Gladiator 2 will also star Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, May Calamawy, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah, and Matt Lucas. The film is directed by Ridley Scott, off of a script from David Scarpa. Russell Crowe, who originally starred as Maximus in the first Gladiator, has repeatedly expressed that he is not involved with the new sequel, thought if you’ve watched the trailers you’ll know that it pays homage to the character in a big way.
“I love doing period films. I love the research. I love to create sort of smells of the period,” Scott explained in 2021. “I think what we did with the first Gladiator…I don’t like being critical of other things that have happened before, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hollywood Roman epics, honestly. They felt artificial and so, when I was asked to consider a script, the script was not very good. But the person who gave it to me said, I want to show you one thing, and he picked up an illustration, this is true, it’s called For Those About to Die by Gérôme. He holds it up. It’s a picture of this big painting of the Coliseum, and in the corner there is this guy, about to tuna fork this poor bastard. He’s got this thing in his neck, and he’s looking up for permission to kill. I went, bloody hell, that’s never been done properly before. Never. I said, I’ll do it. He said you will? I said yes. Did you want to read the script? I said no, and we went off and hit the ground running around the table, and evolved the new material.” Gladiator 2 is now playing in theaters.
