Gladiator 2 soundtrack: who composed it and which themes feature?

24 September 2024, 17:25 | Updated: 24 September 2024, 17:47

Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s score for the original ‘Gladiator’ movie was a vital part of its success. With a sequel on the horizon, how will the music face up to the original?

24 years since the release of Gladiator, director Ridley Scott is following up with a sequel, slated for released on 22 November.

Paul Mescal stars in Gladiator II as Lucius, former heir to the Roman Empire. Lucius becomes a gladiator after his home is invaded by the Roman army and attempts to return the glory of Rome to its people.

Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard collaborated on the original soundtrack, which famously featured Gerrard’s stirring vocals, but have not returned to compose a score for the sequel. Instead, a new composer will join the film phenomenon…

Read more: The 10 best Hans Zimmer soundtracks

Watch the second trailer for Gladiator II

Who has composed the score for ‘Gladiator II’?

Harry Gregson-Williams, the musical maestro behind Chicken Run and The Chronicles of Narnia who started out as Zimmer’s assistant, has composed the soundtrack for Gladiator II.

In an interview with Curzon, Zimmer explained his decision not to return to the franchise: “It’s really very simple. I’ve done that world. And I think I did it well. And all I’d do is set myself up for either trying to repeat myself, which I don’t want to do, or getting slaughtered by critics who say you didn’t do it as well as you did the first time.

“I liked the idea of moving on and not getting compared to my own work. One way or the other I’d had enough of that, doing three Batman movies or four Pirates [of the Caribbean] movies or four Kung Fu Panda movies.

“And Gladiator takes a special place in my heart. I think it’s completely undisciplined. It wouldn’t have mattered if I had written the most amazing score, because the music in the first movie sticks in people’s hearts.

“And I want to say something about [Gladiator II composer] Harry Gregson Williams, who started out as my assistant. He was very good friends with both Tony and Ridley Scott. Harry is family for me. He’s a phenomenal composer.

“That film is in really good hands. Trust me. Harry and I have spoken about it. He feels the old score barking at his heels a little bit. So he’s on his A game.”

What music features in the trailer for Gladiator II?

The first trailer for Gladiator II, released on 9 July, controversially featured the song ‘No Church in the Wild’ by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean and The-Dream.

Its lyrics rapped by Jay-Z, “Tears on the mausoleum floor / blood stains the Colosseum doors,” mirror the bloody deaths and battle scenes of the Gladiator, while Ocean’s vocals “Human beings in a mob / What’s a mob to a king / What’s a king to a God” reflect Rome’s social hierarchy.

Controversy was inevitable, given how iconic the original score has become.

A second trailer has since been released with the cinematic soundscape we have come to expect from action movie trailers. As with most trailers, the music featured will not be mirrored in the final film score.

What themes and pieces will feature in the ‘Gladiator II’ score?

Gregson-Williams, a close friend of Hans Zimmer’s will likely weave in some familiar tunes from the original score, including ‘Now We Are Free’ – a tune which made Lisa Gerrard forever affiliated with the ‘wailing woman’ music phenomenon.

The soundtrack will be launched on 27 September.