'Gladiator' Director Is Working On A Script For A Sequel After 20 Years

Gladiator has to be up there as one of the most iconic films of all time - and now, according to the film's producer - a sequel could be in the works, two decades on.

Doug Wick - one of the producers on the movie - has said that the original Gladiator director, Ridley Scott, is working on a script for the sequel.

He told Comic Book: "Ridley would love to do it. It's really all about getting something on paper. Everyone [involved with the original] 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.

"[...] Like any good movie, Gladiator works by the skin of its teeth, where this fight movie ends up adding up that way, and so, again, to take the best of what the audience is attached to, but make it fresh in some new incarnation, it's really challenging."

Certainly sounds promising!

Universal Pictures)

The original movie, released in 2000, focussed on General Maximus Decimus Meridius and his fight against the corrupt Roman emperor.

Rumours of a sequel have been swirling for years. Of course, one of the main problems with a sequel is that the main character (spoiler ahead) played by Russell Crowe, is dead.

However, in 2019, producers Laurie MacDonald and Walter F Parkes, claimed if there was a sequel, it would take place 25-30 years after the original - which would make sense, potentially focusing on the next generation.

Universal Pictures)

But, if they do decide to mix things up, Ridley Scott has already revealed he does know how he could bring Maximus back from the dead, if necessary.

In 2017, he told Entertainment Weekly: "I know how to bring him back. I was having this talk with the studio - 'But he's dead'. But there is a way of bringing him back. Whether it will happen, I don't know.

"Gladiator was 2000, so Russell's changed a little bit. He's doing something right now but I'm trying to get him back down here."

Either way, we're excited to see what the Gladiator future holds. More as it comes...

Topics: Film News, Entertainment News, TV and Film

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot. Get in touch at [email protected].

@lucedevine