“Gladiator II” will arrive on November 22, 2024, almost 25 years after the original Russell Crowe-led film debuted. Judging by the trailer for “Gladiator II,” there will be plenty of epic action, including star Paul Mescal battling a rhino. But what we won’t see, apparently, is Mescal doing battle at Italy’s Cinecittà Studios. 

The largest studio in Italy, Cinecittà is located just outside Rome and has hosted such prestigious productions throughout its almost 90-year history as “Roman Holiday” (1953), “Ben-Hur” (1959), and “Cleopatra” (1963). More recently, the HBO series “Rome” shot at the studio, while filmmakers from Francis Ford Coppola to Martin Scorsese have used the impressive facilities. If there were an awkward ‘Bollywood’-like portmanteau for Italian cinema, Cinecittà would be the hub. Fortunately, nobody has yet tried to make ‘Italianowood’ work, but Cinecittà is certainly at the heart of cinema Italiano.

So you can imagine that Ridley Scott was quite excited to set up at the esteemed studio for “Gladiator II,” and he was likely a bit peeved to learn that he wasn’t actually allowed to shoot there. Why? Because Anthony Hopkins and his new sword-and-sandals TV show, “Those About to Die,” beat him to it.

The new Peacock series is directed by Roland Emmerich and Marco Kreuzpaintner, and it’s set in Ancient Rome. While “Gladiator II” looks set to deliver on epic drama, there’ll be no shortage of the same here, with “Those About to Die” focusing on the “corrupt world of gladiatorial sports,” as per the official press release. Hopkins will play Roman Emperor Vespasian. Naturally, a show as grand as this required a suitable shooting location, and it seems Cinecittà provided exactly what Emmerich and crew needed, much to the dismay of Scott.