Ridley Scott hints at the possibility of creating a Gladiator sequel.
In an industry filled with reboots, sequels, and revivals, there is no movie that is safe from the Hollywood reboot treatment. Critically acclaimed director, Ridley Scott, revealed in an interview at SXSW on Friday, that he has plans for a sequel to Gladiator.
It is important to note that in the Gladiator movie, Russell Crowe’s character, Maximus, died at the end of the movie. According to Scott, he knows “a way of bringing him back.”
“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,” Scott said during an interview with SXSW. “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.”
According to Entertainment Weekly, Crowe teamed up with Nick Cave in 2009 to write a sequel to the Gladiator movie where Maximus continues to fight in the afterlife. However, it is unclear whether or not Scott is referring to the same project or if this is an entirely new project.
That said, Gladiator won five Academy Awards and brought home $457 million in the worldwide box office. Still, it goes to show that no movie is safe, even when the main character dies at the end of the film.
Scott is currently promoting his new movie Alien: Covenant, which hits theaters. He previewed three sneak-peek clips at SXSW from his new movie in the franchise, which hit theaters on May 19th.