The Gladiator Limited Edition 4K Steelbook Blu-ray Is Back

The 4k Steelbook edition returns ahead of the release of Gladiator 2 on November 22nd.

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Back in 2020, Paramount Home Entertainment released a 4K Steelbook Blu-ray to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s original Gladiator film starring Russel Crowe. If you missed it the first time around, you now have a second chance thanks to the upcoming sequel Gladiator 2, which is fresh off another big trailer release ahead of its debut in theaters on November 22nd. 

Pre-orders for the Gladiator 4K Steelbook Blu-ray are available here on Amazon and here at Walmart now. It will arrive on November 12th, which will give you plenty of time to get up to speed ahead of watching the sequel. Presumably, the Steelbook edition contains the same special features as the standard Gladiator 4K Blu-ray, which are listed below. 

4K BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Introduction by Ridley Scott (Extended Edition)
• Audio Commentary by director Ridley Scott and actor Russell Crowe (Extended Edition)
• Audio Commentary by director Ridley Scott, editor Pietro Scalia and cinematographer John Mathieson (Theatrical Edition)

BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Introduction by Ridley Scott (Extended Edition)
• Audio Commentary by director Ridley Scott and actor Russell Crowe (Extended Edition)
• Audio Commentary by director Ridley Scott, editor Pietro Scalia and cinematographer John Mathieson (Theatrical Edition)
• The Scrolls of Knowledge
• Deleted Scenes Index with Optional Commentary by Ridley Scott
• Visions from Elysium: Topic Portal
• Strength and Honor: Creating the World of Gladiator
• Image & Design: Storyboard Demonstration, Storyboard Archive, Costume Design Gallery, Photo Galleries
• Abandoned Sequences & Deleted Scenes
• The Aurelian Archives – My Gladiator Journal by Spencer Treat Clark
• AND MORE…

What Is Gladiator 2 About?

In Gladiator 2, Lucius—the grandson of Rome’s former emperor Marcus Aurelius and son of Lucilla—lives with his wife and child in Numidia. Roman soldiers led by general Marcus Acacius invade, forcing Lucius into slavery. Inspired by the story of Maximus, Lucius resolves to fight as a gladiator while opposing the rule of the young emperors Caracalla and Geta. Gladiator 2 will also star Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, May Calamawy, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah, and Matt Lucas. The film is directed by Ridley Scott, off of a script from David Scarpa. Russell Crowe, who originally starred as Maximus in the first Gladiator, has repeatedly expressed that he is not involved with the new sequel, thought if you’ve watched the trailers you’ll know that it pays homage to the character in a big way. 

“I love doing period films. I love the research. I love to create sort of smells of the period,” Scott explained in 2021. “I think what we did with the first Gladiator…I don’t like being critical of other things that have happened before, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hollywood Roman epics, honestly. They felt artificial and so, when I was asked to consider a script, the script was not very good. But the person who gave it to me said, I want to show you one thing, and he picked up an illustration, this is true, it’s called For Those About to Die by Gérôme. He holds it up. It’s a picture of this big painting of the Coliseum, and in the corner there is this guy, about to tuna fork this poor bastard. He’s got this thing in his neck, and he’s looking up for permission to kill. I went, bloody hell, that’s never been done properly before. Never. I said, I’ll do it. He said you will? I said yes. Did you want to read the script? I said no, and we went off and hit the ground running around the table, and evolved the new material.”

Gladiator 2 will be released exclusively in theaters on November 22nd.