Gladiator II has been on fire at the box office since coming out two weeks ago, taking in nearly $350 million worldwide so far. And while those who saw it have been entertained by duels and sharks, there’s one thing we can all agree it was missing: a little song and dance! Fortunately, Saturday Night Live has it covered, releasing a spoof trailer that wonders, What if Gladiator II was a musical?
Set up as a rushed way to capitalize on both Wicked and Moana II, both of which topped Gladiator II at the box office this week, the trailer features star and SNL host Paul Mescal leading the additional 50 minutes of sure-to-be smash songs. After some singing by Devon Walker, Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang – who have a number presumably called “There’s No Place Like Rome”, hitting on swords, sandals, whores, and scandals – Mescal gets his chance to try out his pipes.
As he eyes his reflection in his sword, Mescal sings, They look at me / And all they see / Is a killing machine / But they don’t know / That far below / I’m so much more than I seem / They call me Gladiatoorrr. With a pitch perfect mix of shakin’ and stabbin’, SNL might be onto something with this Gladiator II musical.
While Ridley Scott does have plans for a Gladiator III, it’s probably a safe bet that he won’t be toying with a musical. But if he could follow through on it with his proposed Gladiator II extended cut, we are absolutely down for an hour of musical numbers.
The Gladiator II musical then claims they pulled in Lin-Manuel Miranda to bring in some of his signature historical hip hop: Everybody in the Colosseum / Put your hands in the air and let me see ‘em / I’m the mad emperor with the bad temper-er…And I don’t mean to be a hater / But I ain’t like this gladiator / So say goodbye to this clown / ‘cause my thumb is going down. And then gets a little more vulgar…But we’ll let you enjoy that on your own.
What do you think of SNL’s Gladiator II musical trailer?
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