We have both good news and bad for fans of Ridley Scott’s swords and sandals epic Gladiator: a sequel is coming, but it won’t star Russell Crowe.
In news that spread across the internet like wildfire, American publication Deadline reported that Ridley Scott has begun working on a follow-up to his hugely successful 2000 film, which won five Oscars (including Best Picture and Best Actor) and was nominated for 11.
According to Deadline: “Gladiator 2 will follow the continuing story of Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen). The youth was the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the weaselly son of Roman leader Marcus Aurelius who murdered his father seized the throne and wound up in the gladiator ring with Maximus, who though mortally wounded, skewered the emperor before fading into the great beyond to reunite with his slain wife and son.”
The reason the sequel will reportedly follow Lucius, rather than Russell Crowe’s Maximus character, is because Maximus was of course killed in the end of the original.
But, as Ridley Scott has just demonstrated, just because your protagonist dies doesn’t mean you can’t make a sequel.
