Will Gladiator II’s Success Lead To More Entertainment Based On Historic Empires?

23rd December 2024

Will Gladiator II’s Success Lead To More Entertainment Based On Historic Empires?

The release of Gladiator II in 2024 sent viewers back in time to the Roman Empire, with the sequel to 2000’s iconic original. Our love of movies and other types of entertainment based on historic empires is clear, so will this latest film lead to a new wave of interest in the genre?

The Story of Gladiator II

It took over two decades for the sequel to Gladiator to emerge. It was a story of many false starts, as the writers and producers struggled to create a realistic storyline to follow up the first movie and move on from the loss of the main character. They finally decided to set it 16 years after the death of Marcus Aurelius, with Geta and Caracalla ruling the empire while some of the early action takes place in North Africa before moving to Rome.

Paul Mescal stars as Lucius and this review points out that many of the same ideas and concepts from the first movie can also be seen here, despite the appearance of sharks and baboons to add a different feel to the fights. Early reaction to Gladiator II has been largely positive, with Denzel Washington receiving particularly good reviews for his role as Macrinus.

What Other Historic Empires Could Inspire Popular Entertainment?

Movies about Ancient Egypt, the Aztecs, and other historic empires have always been extremely popular, with Troy, Cleopatra and Clash of the Titans among some of the most memorable. To consider which empires and cultures might inspire the next wave of films, we could consider which are most popular in other types of entertainment, such as the Queen Cleopatra miniseries on Netflix and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now exhibition.

The Aztec empire can be seen in a variety of movies like 2006’s Apocalypto, directed by Mel Gibson. We can find Aztec themes in TV shows such as Lost Gold of the Aztecs and featured in online slots UK players can try. Gonzo’s Quest is one of the Megaways games, alongside the gold mining-inspired Bonanza and others with varying themes. Gonzo is the main character, representing a Spanish conquistador exploring the Aztec-period Central American jungle in this popular slot by NetEnt and Red Tiger that helped inspire others with similar themes.

The Viking era has also proved to be successful, with the Vikings: Valhalla series on TV and the Vikings Live exhibition at the British Museum. In terms of Ancient Greece, the Kaos show starring Jeff Goldblum helped to catapult this empire back into popular culture.

If we look at casino betting sites for further evidence, we see that the Gates of Olympus series and Gods of Olympus are among the slots set in this period. Greek Gods like Zeus and Poseidon are often used as key symbols in these games. However, they generally stick to the classic slot machine mechanism with added bonus rounds.

Other Roman Empire Movies on the Horizon?

The original Gladiator at the turn of the century inspired the sword-and-sandals epic type of movie, with King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, a Ben Hur remake and Gods of Egypt all classed as falling into this growing genre without achieving the same level of success. It remains to be seen whether Gladiator II has the same level of success, although 2024 has already seen the release of Those About to Die, with Anthony Hopkins playing the Roman Emperor Vespasian in a series focusing on gladiators and chariot racing.

Gladiator II has shown that our interest in historic empires is as strong as ever. With ancient cultures appearing in a variety of types of entertainment, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Roman themes make more of an impact in the next couple of years.

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