<description>The new film &lt;em&gt;Gladiator II&lt;/em&gt; is a sequel to &lt;em&gt;Gladiator&lt;/em&gt;, Oscar-winning swords-and-sandals blockbuster that starred Russell Crowe. It tells a similar tale — a soldier, sold into slavery, becomes a gladiator in the Roman arena. This time out, it's Paul Mescal whose prowess in the coliseum earns him fame that threatens Rome's tyrannical rulers. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film also stars Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="https://letterboxd.com/nprpopculture/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.npr.org/happy"&gt;. &lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.npr.org/happy"&gt;&lt;br&gt;Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Learn more about sponsor message choices: &lt;a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices"&gt;podcastchoices.com/adchoices&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy"&gt;NPR Privacy Policy&lt;/a&gt;</description>

Pop Culture Happy Hour

NPR

Gladiator II

NOV 21, 202417 MIN
Pop Culture Happy Hour

Gladiator II

NOV 21, 202417 MIN

Description

The new film Gladiator II is a sequel to Gladiator, Oscar-winning swords-and-sandals blockbuster that starred Russell Crowe. It tells a similar tale — a soldier, sold into slavery, becomes a gladiator in the Roman arena. This time out, it's Paul Mescal whose prowess in the coliseum earns him fame that threatens Rome's tyrannical rulers. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film also stars Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington.

Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture.

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