Is Ridley Scott about to give us yet another director’s cut? Earlier in the year, Scott’s “Gladiator II” test screened and it clocked in at around 161 minutes, according to a person who attended the screening, who also described the film as “thrilling” and “Oscar worthy.”
Now we’re hearing that Scott has shred some fat off of the tested cut and that “Gladiator II” will have an official runtime of 141 minutes. This also means that the upcoming sequel is 11 minutes shorter than 2000’s “Gladiator” (although that film eventually had a 2-hour 50-minute extended version released).
A few months ago, a THR report confirmed that Scott’s sequel had its budget “balloon” from $165 million to a whopping $310 million. The piece went on to describe Paramount execs as feeling “terribly vexed” by the whole ordeal but felt relieved once they saw footage of the film which “blew them away.
“Gladiator II,” which stars Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal, and more, is set to hit theaters on November 22.