The follow-up to the 2000 critically-lauded epic movie is confirmed to be in development with the original director working on the script for the really challenging project.
- Jun 13, 2020
AceShowbiz - Ridley Scott is working on a script for the sequel to his Oscar-winning historical epic "Gladiator", according to one of its producers.
Doug Wick, who produced the 2000 film about Roman general turned gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius, played by Russell Crowe, alongside David Franzoni, and Branko Lustig, believes a long-mooted sequel may be a challenge, but the director is already working on a screenplay.
He told ComicBook.com, "Ridley would love to do it. It's really all about getting something on paper. Everyone loves the movie too much to ever consider cheaply exploiting it and making something that's a shadow of it."
"It's just really a clear creative problem, working on a script, and if we can ever get it to a place... Ridley's working on it, it's really just a question of whether we can get it to a place where it feels worthy to make it. It's a real challenge."
The film won five awards at the 2001 Oscars, including Best Picture, with Crowe taking home the Best Actor award - however, he may be unlikely to return for a follow-up given his character's fate at the end of the first film.
Last year 2019, producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, who have been trying to make a sequel happen, said it would likely be set 25 to 30 years after the original, which depicted the reigns of Roman Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, adding they "wouldn't touch" a sequel unless it was worthy of the original.
