David Scarpa Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

“Aftersun” star Paul Mescal is in talks to star in the “Gladiator” sequel from Paramount Pictures, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.The first “Gladiator” movie, which was released in 2000, garnered 11 Oscar nominations and five wins, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Russell Crowe. The film raked in $460 million at the global box office.The story for the sequel would focus on Lucius (Mescal), the son of Lucilla (who was played by Connie Nielsen in the 2000 film) who was saved by Maximus (Crowe) by the end of the first film.Ridley Scott is directing, as well as producing with Michael Pruss via Scott Free and Doug Wick & Lucy Fisher via Red Wagon Entertainment.David Scarpa is writing the script. Also returning from the original film are costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max.DreamWorks was the studio behind the original 2000 film and Paramount is currently in negotiations to land the project. Universal, which co-produced the 2000 film, has the option to come on board as co-financier.Scott will first direct “Napoleon” which Joaquin Phoenix attached to star.Mescal first broke out on Hulu’s “Normal People,” for which he garnered a BAFTA award and an Emmy nomination for his role.

EXCLUSIVE: Ridley Scott always said he would return to the Colosseum to continue the story of his blockbuster epic Gladiator, and it looks like we are getting close to having that wish granted. Sources tell Deadline that Normal People star Paul Mescal is in negotiations to lead the sequel to the Oscar-winning pic, with Scott returning to the directing chair. Scott also will produce, along with Scott Free President Michael Pruss as well as Doug Wick & Lucy Fisher via Red Wagon Entertainment. David Scarpa penned the script.

Anna Franklin Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby will start shooting next week in Malta on Ridley Scott’s film “Kitbag,” about Napoleon’s rise to power. Polish cinematographer Dariusz Adam Wolski is lensing, according to Film New Europe. Phoenix, who plays the French emperor, and Kirby, who plays his wife Josephine, arrive in Malta this week, according to Times of Malta, quoting sources in the local film industry.

HBO is developing Londongrad, a limited series based on Alan Cowell’s book The Terminal Spy, about poisoned KBG agent Alexander Litvinenko, with Benedict Cumberbatch set to star as Litvinenko, Deadline has confirmed. Cumberbatch also will executive produce the project via his Sunnymarch production banner.

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch is coming off playing a Cold War-era civilian spy in the thriller “The Courier” and is getting another shot at the genre for a new HBO limited series, “Londongrad,” based on the book “The Terminal Spy” by Alan Cowell. According to Variety, Cumberbatch will play real-life former KGB Agent Alexander Litvinenko, who famously was poisoned while in England with the radioactive isotope polonium-2010 back in 2006 after defecting from Russia.

Kitbag, which stars Joaquin Phoenix, is set to be released via Apple TV+.Kitbag, which Scott will direct and produce, will see Phoenix take on the role of French emperor and military leader Napoleon Bonaparte.

Apple has landed theJoaquin Phoenix and Ridley Scott reteam Kitbag. Phoenix will star as the French military leader and emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, in the film that will track his origins and, as the logline reads, "swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine."David Scarpa penned the screenplay.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple Studios has committed to finance and produce Kitbag, the Napoleon Bonaparte epic that Ridley Scott will direct, with Oscar-winning Joker star Joaquin Phoenix playing the French emperor and military leader. Production will begin in early 2022 in the UK. Scott and Kevin Walsh will produce for Scott Free.

Two decades after the release of Gladiator, Ridley Scott and Joaquin Phoenix are looking to reteam on another historical drama. Scott is set to direct Phoenix in aNapoleon Bonaparte movie Kitbag, which is in early development.David Scarpa (All the Money in the World) will write the screenplay.

Joaquin Phoenix is set to reunite with Ridley Scott for a new film about Napoleon.The actor and the filmmaker, who previously teamed up for the 1999 epic Gladiator, will join forces again for Kitbag, which explores the French Emperor’s origins.The film’s title is inspired by the saying “There is a general’s staff hidden in every soldier’s kitbag”.The script will be written by David Scarpa.Scott has just wrapped production on another historical epic, The Last Duel, in Ireland, and he is set to

Mike Fleming Jr Co-Editor-in-Chief, FilmEXCLUSIVE: Ridley Scott will team with Joaquin Phoenix for Kitbag, with the Oscar-winning Joker star to play French military leader and emperor Napoleon. Pic is set at 20th Century Studios, where Scott Free has its deal.