By Published May 9, 2026, 11:55 AM EDT Zoë Miskelly is an editor and second in command for Screen Rant's Movies team, having covered the entertainment industry for almost 10 years now. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
The 2026 movie featuring Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal that was in the running for an Oscar has just gotten another new lease of life thanks to . There are relatively few actors who can claim to be almost universal household names for the general public, but Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal are certainly two figures who come under this umbrella.
Indeed, Denzel Washington is arguably one of the most well-known actors present in the current day, with his wide range of roles and subsequent awards - including two Oscars, three Golden Globes, and a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, to name but a few of his accolades - demonstrating the significance of his acting career over the years.
Pedro Pascal's rise to fame has been more recent, but still decidedly potent, with the actor's appearance in as Mister Fantastic, in as Joel, and in Star Wars as Din Djarin has ensured his acting talents have been similarly impossible to ignore. Combined with the likes of Paul Mescal and Joseph Quinn, it's subsequently perhaps inevitable that one well-regarded film featuring Washington and Pascal has risen up once more again on streaming.
Gladiator 2 Just Hit The Netflix Movie Charts Once More
Almost two years after it first arrived in cinemas, Gladiator 2 has risen once more to the top of Netflix's weekly viewing charts, becoming the tenth most-watched movie on the platform globally from April 27th-May 3rd of 2026 (as per Netflix's official records on ).
This is impressive given Gladiator 2 already previously climbed Netflix's charts a year prior, with the movie having when it was previously added to the streaming service.
To hit this milestone even once is something of a notable feather in the cap of any movie, which makes Gladiator 2 managing to do so twice in two separate years all the more striking. That said, it's also a revelation that isn't massively surprising given the fame of the original 2000 movie, and given the star-studded cast within the sequel itself.
Gladiator 2's Netflix Milestone Is All The More Interesting After The Movie's Theatrical Results
While Gladiator 2 didn't do terribly at the box office, it is worth noting that its release was somewhat overshadowed as an "event film" by the release of Wicked. The 2026 musical released in the US on November 22 - exactly the same day as Gladiator 2's debut - and was one of the biggest films of 2026 altogether, meaning some of the prospective box office potential of Gladiator 2 does appear to have been diminished subsequently, before being further hampered by some complaints about the sequel not living up to the original.
With this in mind, seeing Gladiator 2's recurrent popularity on Netflix is all the more key to getting a sense of its lasting impact and legacy, since contextually, its box office results alone don't appear to be a full reflection of whether the film can be deemed a success.
Indeed, while Gladiator 2 made $462 million worldwide (as per ) on a reported budget of around $310 million (via ) - which would see it be considered a failure financially if the rule of thumb about a film needing to make 2.5 times its budget were to be applied here - the fact it is still breaking into streaming charts show its long-term success shouldn't be underestimated.
Since after director Ridley Scott's August 2026 comments about a third installment, Gladiator 2's continued popularity on Netflix bodes well for the franchise's overall trajectory, and the subsequent results of any future follow-ups - which could also equal out to great box office success for another film down the line.
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