Ridley Scott begins work on Gladiator sequel.
Ridley Scott is developing a sequel to 2000’s Gladiator, the Oscar-winning sword-and-sandals epic which starred Russell Crowe as a general-turned-slave who ultimately stands up to the Emperor of Rome.
The sequel will follow the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielson) and nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), Lucius. Talks of a follow-up to the $460m worldwide hit and winner of five Oscars have cropped up in the years since. Top Gun: Maverick and The Town scribe Peter Craig will pen the screenplay, with Ridley Scott to direct.
Scott’s most recent work has seen him dabbling mostly in sci-fi, continuing the Alien franchise he launched to uneven results with 2012’s Prometheus and 2017’s Alien: Covenant. He’s currently directing a TV series, Raised by Wolves, another AI-centric story about androids raising human children.
At 80 years old, Scott can only be commended for his frequency in getting projects onto the big screen, despite the fact that the end results may not be quite as consistent as some other master directors that spring to mind. Gladiator will meet the same resistance as many other modern follow-ups, though for every Ghostbusters there are gems like Blade Runner 2049 and Mad Max: Fury Road that give us cause for optimism or at least intrigue for such news.
Source: The Guardian