Whenever a sequel to a classic movie comes out, people always compare it to the original, and Gladiator 2 was no different. The first comparisons were about Rotten Tomatoes scores. Gladiator 2 got 71% from critics and 82% from audiences, which didn’t quite match the original Gladiator’s 80% from critics and 87% from audiences.
Many agreed that Gladiator 2 didn’t have a performance as powerful as Russell Crowe’s Oscar-winning role in the first movie. The final comparison came down to box office numbers. Even with its massive $250 million budget, Ridley Scott’s movie performed well. After almost two months in theaters, Gladiator 2 earned $454 million worldwide, beating the original Gladiator’s $451 million total.
Gladiator 2 has earned much more internationally, with $282 million from foreign markets. However, the Paul Mescal-led movie also made $171 million in the U.S., placing it among the top 15 highest-grossing movies of 2024 in the country. It recently passed Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes but is still over $20 million behind Mufasa: The Lion King.
The movie is also in the top 25 highest-grossing historical fiction films ever in the U.S., holding the 21st spot, just $1 million behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Gladiator 2 is also the 14th-highest-grossing film worldwide in 2024.
Ridley Scott has confirmed that he’s working on another Gladiator movie. However, because the sequel hasn’t made a huge profit at the box office, Paramount executives may be slowing down the process of moving the film forward. Gladiator 2 cost around $250 million to make, and a movie usually needs to make double that amount to break even and more to make a profit.
Related: Ridley Scott Reveals He Has Begun Writing ‘Gladiator 3’: “I’ve Got 8 Pages”
While the film has earned over $450 million worldwide, it still hasn’t doubled its production cost, meaning it’s likely a loss for Paramount. This could affect whether we see another Gladiator movie.
Gladiator 2 is still playing in theaters around the world.