A weird project that director Ridley Scott has been developing over the years is a sequel to his Oscar-winning ancient Rome action film, Gladiator. However, the project would follow a grown Lucius Verus, rather than Russell Crowe’s Maximus, given the latter died.
While speaking with Empire Magazine, director Ridley Scott has revealed that he hopes to get cameras rolling on the untitled Gladiator sequel after he completes his upcoming Napoleon film, Kitbag, that will star Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, Joker) and Jodie Comer (The Last Duel, Killing Eve).
“I’m already having [the next] Gladiator written now. So when I’ve done Napoleon, Gladiator will be ready to go.”
Filming on Kitbag is said to begin shooting next year in the United Kingdom and could suggest that Gladiator 2 might begin sometime in 2023.
Returning to ancient Rome should be interesting given that Scott will have way more special effects tools (CGI) than he did in the late 1990s.
GLADIATOR – Set in Roman times, the story of a once-powerful general forced to become a common gladiator. The emperor’s son is enraged when he is passed over as heir in favour of his father’s favourite general. He kills his father and arranges the murder of the general’s family, and the general is sold into slavery to be trained as a gladiator – but his subsequent popularity in the arena threatens the throne.
SOURCE: EMPIRE
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