How To Watch Gladiator 2 At Home

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Once upon a time, a major box office smash like Ridley Scott's "Gladiator II" would move off to the second-run theaters for a lengthy discount run ahead of its eventual home video release. Not in today's front-loaded commercial climate. It's a smash-and-grab world, where a $210 million epic is expected to strike fast and hard, and, once it's squeezed out of theaters by the onslaught of low-aiming family fare like "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" and "Mufasa," find its adult audience on streaming. So, if you were waiting for a film intended to be seen on the biggest screen possible to be available for home viewing, your bread-and-circuses will be start getting served up the day before Christmas. 

Paramount Pictures has just announced that "Gladiator II" will hit digital on December 24. The generally well-received sequel (/Film's Chris Evangelista was a fan) to the 2001 Oscars' Best Picture winner is expected to be in contention for multiple Academy Awards, with Denzel Washington garnering a good deal of buzz for Best Supporting Actor, so it's the kind of movie you'll at least want to watch once. If you're already a fan of "Gladiator II," or tend to dig Ridley Scott flicks but missed this one on the big screen, you'll definitely want to purchase on digital or 4K Ultra HD. If you do, you'll get a whole bunch of extras to watch as well. For those who are eager to buy a physical copy of "Gladiator II," read on.

What to expect when you step into the digital arena with Gladiator II

According to Paramount, here's what digital and 4K Ultra HD buyers of "Gladiator II" can expect in terms of extras:

"A Dream That Was Rome: Origins" – Scott and producers delve into the history behind Gladiator II and how the story developed over many years before coming to the screen.
"What We Do In Life Echoes In Eternity: The Cast" – An inside look into Scott's casting process.
"In The Arena: Filmmakers" – Behind the scenes shoot in Malta, Morocco, and the UK.
"To Those About To Die, We Salute You: Combat" – How Scott and his team combined choreographed combat with cutting-edge visual effects to take the action to a new level.
"Building An Empire: Post-Production" – Filmmakers provide insights into the process of crafting the finished movie, which includes a scoring session led by composer Harry Gregson-Williams.
"The Making Of Gladiator II" – How Scott, the cast, and crew worked to bring 'Gladiator II' to life.
Deleted Scenes.

That's some pretty nifty bang for your buck, and par for the course for a Ridley Scott home entertainment release — though we miss the days when Charles de Lauzirika was directing and producing in-depth behind-the-scenes documentaries for the legendary filmmaker. 

If, however, digital ownership of a movie isn't your bag, we've got good news for you. Paramount will release "Gladiator II" as part of a two-film collection on 4K Ultra HD and in a 4K Ultra HD SteelBook (presumably with all of the aforementioned extras included) on March 4, 2025. If you want to give Scott's film the best possible presentation in your home (though he really would rather you watch his movies in the theater), your best bet is to wait a few months for one of these suckers.