Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II will begin its Asian box office campaign in Japan. The Tokyo International Film Festival revealed on Friday that it will host the Asian premiere of the epic sequel on November 5, more than two weeks ahead of its North American release over the Thanksgiving weekend on November 22. But it has gone through a dry spell over the past decade as studios shifted their marketing efforts to China’s once-booming box office.
Scott won’t be coming to Japan to walk the music festival red carpet, but Gladiator II The cast will premiere in Tokyo. Star Paul Mescal is planning his first trip to Japan for the gala screening. He will be joined by co-stars including Denzo Washington, Fred Heckinger and Connie Nielsen. Gladiator II Produced by Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher.
The Tokyo Film Festival said it created a new category of “core screenings” specifically to host action-adventure films from Paramount Pictures.
“We hope the film will attract a large audience at the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival and become one of the most iconic films of the year,” organizers of the event said in a statement.
original GladiatorThe film won five Oscars and grossed US$465.4 million at the global box office, including US$15.5 million in Japan, making it the film’s largest market in Asia and the seventh largest market in the world.
Gladiator IIBased on characters created by David Franzoni and a screenplay by David Scarpa, the film tells a new story set a decade or so after the events of the first film years later. Mescal plays the adult Lucius Verus II, the nephew of Emperor Commodus in the original film, played by Joaquin Phoenix. Forced into slavery, Lucius returned to Rome to fight not as a ruler but as a gladiator for revenge and power. Washington plays Macrinus, a wealthy power broker and arms dealer.
Shozo Ichiyama, artistic director of the Tokyo Film Festival, explained: “Gladiator II Showcasing a star-studded cast that’s riding the wave, and an even more epic scale than the previous film. We are honored to be screening Gladiator II as our centerpiece, undoubtedly one of the most anticipated films of the year by audiences around the world.
