Empire’s World-Exclusive Gladiator II Covers Revealed

It’s been nearly 25 years since Maximus Decimus Meridius – father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, you know the rest – stepped into the Colosseum. And when he did, he left everyone entertained. Ridley Scott’s Gladiator stands as one of the filmmaker’s greatest works – taking audiences back to Ancient Rome with full-throttle scenes of bloodthirsty combat, an emotional revenge story, and thunderously epic battles to boot. Now, a quarter of a century later, Scott is thinking about the Roman Empire once again, conjuring a fresh batch of swords, sandals, and seriously huge setpieces for Gladiator II. This time, it’s Paul Mescal’s new underdog hero Lucius stepping up for history’s most brutal spectacle – get ready to enter the arena all over again.

The new issue of Empire takes a world-exclusive deep dive into Gladiator II – going toe-to-toe with some of the sharpest minds in cinema to take you inside the historical epic you’ve waited decades for. We discuss the sequel’s long journey to the screen with Ridley Scott; uncover what eventually cracked the story open with writer David Scarpa; armour up with incoming cast members Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn; and break down how Gladiator II connects to the original with returning star Connie Nielsen. Plus, it’s packed with never-before-seen images, ready to take you into the heart of the action – blood, blades, beasts and all.

This month’s newsstand cover sees Mescal’s incoming hero Lucius standing tall, sword in hand, ready to unleash hell.

And the subscriber cover is an original painting by the legendary Tony Stella, created exclusively for Empire – conjuring all the fire and fury of Ancient Rome.

And that’s not all. Also inside the issue, we speak to Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins about venturing to the Pride Lands for Mufasa: The Lion King; enter the mad world of Megalopolis with Francis Ford Coppola; get swept up in Sean Baker’s unconventional love story Anora; flag down Michael Mann to revisit his classic hitman thriller Collateral, 20 years later; break down that mind-bending Doctor Doom casting, with Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU; jump through historical eras with the making of Alice Lowe’s Timestalker; and much, much more.

It’s an issue filled to the max(imus) with unmissable cinematic goodness – find a copy on newsstands from Thursday 29 August. Pre-order a copy online here. Gladiator II comes to UK cinemas from 15 November.