HeyUGuys scooped some interesting details about the planned sequel to Ridley Scott‘s year 2000 sword & sandals epic, Gladiator.
Speaking with producers of the sequel Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, it’s now confirmed that the film will be set a quarter century after the events surrounding Roman general-turned-revolutionary-gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius.
MacDonald said
“We’re working with Ridley, that’s one we wouldn’t touch unless we felt in a way to do it was legitimate. We’re working with an amazing writer as well, Peter Craig.”
Parkes added
“It picks up the story 30 years later… 25 years later”.
Craig has a number of hits under his belt including The Town, Blood Father and 12 Strong as well as having penned the upcoming Top Gun sequel and a live action TV adaptation of Cowboy Bebop.
Gladiator 2 will reportedly follow events in the life of the now-adult Lucius, son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). With the dramatic demise of Maximus (Russell Crowe) at the end of Gladiator, it remains to be seen if he will have some manner of return, perhaps in flashback form, or if Animal Kingdom‘s Spencer Treat Clark will reprise the role of Lucius.
Gladiator 2 has no planned release date yet, but stay tuned for more info as we get it!
Gladiator is one of those gems that has always reminded me that Scott can make pretty much any kind of movie; it’s true that he particularly nailed the execution of this one, but I don’t think it was necessarily more of a deeper love than his other works; it just managed to convey a simple story extremely well, with memorable visuals and striking performances from his cast. And seeing how these days he seems more than willing to go the route of the sequel, it will be interesting to see what has to be said in the wake of Maximus’ life and the unravelling of Commodus’ plots.
If anything I do hope that he reaches further than some other of his films; by example I think The Martian is one of the finest space-flicks ever made, but there is a clinical detachment to it that certainly shows his immense strengths as a film maker, but lacked an over-arching pathos found in some of his other works.
What do you think of this sequel happening, Wasteoids? Want to know where the Gladiator story goes next? Sound off in the comments section below!