Ridley Scott revealed that Barry Keoghan had to leave 'Gladiator II' for 'Saltburn.' Keoghan tells IndieWire what happened.

Gladiator director Ridley Scott has revealed that Irish actor Barry Keoghan was meant to play a villain in the new Gladiator sequel.Speaking with the New York Times, the filmmaker shared that we were robbed of the Barry baddie after the 32-year-old actor had a scheduling conflict that caused him to drop out of the film at the start of 2023.

Joaquin Phoenix tried quitting “Gladiator” mid-shoot before being persuaded to stay by Ridley Scott, the director said in an interview published Thursday. Ahead of the film’s sequel, “Gladiator II,” Scott told the New York Times that Phoenix, who ...

“I’ve lit the fuse,” Scott said. “The ending of ‘Gladiator II’ is reminiscent of ‘The Godfather,’ with Michael Corleone finding himself with a job he didn’t want, and wondering, ‘Now, Father, what do I do?‘ So the next [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is.”

Joaquin Phoenix made his breakout performance in 2000’s Gladiator, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Nearly 25 years later, director Ridley Scott revealed that Phoenix nearly dropped out of the role of Commodus at the last minute,

Gladiator' was a "baptism of fire for both of us in the beginning," Ridley Scott said of how he and Joaquin Phoenix approached making the 2000 film