Hey look at that, for the seventh millionth time, movies are not dead. Theaters are currently setting post-Thanksgiving records. The three-headed cinematic monster of Wicked, Moana 2, and Gladiator II has led to a box office bonanza. What do all three blockbusters have in common? Easy! They’re all musicals. …Or at least they are now. Gladiator II star Paul Mescal helped turn his own sword and sandal epic into a song-filled sequel when he hosted Saturday Night Live.
SNL‘s “Gladiator Twosuical” trailer re-imagined Ridley Scott’s long-awaited Gladiator followup as a quickly revamped musical meant to compete with its fellow box office titans. The results are…awesome. And we mean that both in terms of this very funny pre-taped sketch and also the fictional songs. They’re way too good for a show that is made entirely from scratch in less than a week. And adding in a Lin-Manual Miranda rap number, which you’ll find in 89% of every musical now made, is a perfect joke.
Just as good as this sketch’s fake music is Paul Mescal’s actual singing. As though being a world class actor wasn’t enough, he also has some serious musical chops. He sounds fantastic! Get this man in a full-length musical right now. Plus he can dance! You think it’s easy swinging a sword while keeping time? I mean, we’ve never tried, but we imagine the answer is “no.”
As someone who definitely did not love Gladiator II, in large part because it goes from silly fun to bad silly, I can honestly say I would have much preferred this version of the film. It’s all intentionally silly in the best way.
The film did set up an obvious third installment. Will this sketch inspire Ridley Scott to make Gladiator III a musical? Probably/absolutely not. But considering movies are not dead well keep this new dream of ours alive anyway.