Ridley Scott signs up Zimmer’s protege to compose music for ‘Gladiator’ sequel

Ridley Scott has found the god of music for his upcoming ‘Gladiator’ sequel, reports ‘Variety’.

Harry Gregson-Williams has been hired to compose the score for the hotly anticipated Paramount feature, which is due to be out on November 22, more than 24 years after the Oscar-winning original starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.

The film, adds ‘Variety’, marks the seventh collaboration between Scott and Gregson-Williams. The composer has penned the scores for ‘The Martian’, ‘Prometheus’, ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’, ‘Kingdom of Heaven’, ‘The Last Duel’ and ‘House of Gucci’.

Other credits for Gregson-Williams include ‘Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’, ‘The Meg’, ‘Mulan’, ‘The Gilded Age’, ‘The Equalizer’, ‘Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason’, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and all three ‘Shrek’ films.

In something of a nice twist, ‘Variety’ notes, Gregson-Williams also spent many years as the protege of Hans Zimmer, who was the composer on the first ‘Gladiator’ (and landed an Oscar nomination for his work).

With a script penned by David Scarpa, the ‘Gladiator’ sequel will focus on Lucius, the nephew of Commodus who is now a grown man. Paul Mescal will play the lead role, heading up a cast that also includes Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger and Pedro Pascal.