Ridley Scott Announces Gladiator 2 Is On the Way. WHY?

Movies

Quite possibly the most unnecessary sequel of all time is coming. Ridley Scott announced that after Kitbag, a movie documenting the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Emperor of France, he will be moving forward with a sequel to the 2000 Academy Award-winning masterpiece Gladiator. According to Empire, the Oscar-nominated director said, “I’m already having [the next] Gladiator written now, so when I’ve done Napoleon, Gladiator will be ready to go.”

If you missed out on the film, correct that issue; it’s a perfect movie. It’s a self-encapsulated story about the life of Maximus Decimus Meridius (played by Russell Crow, for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor), “commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. An I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.” Commodus (one of Joaquin Phoenix’s best roles, which he was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role but lost out to Benicio Del Toro in Traffic [terrible choice]), the corrupt son and murderer of Marcus Aurelius; “The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor. Striking story! But now, the people want to know how the story ends. Only a famous death will do. And what could be more glorious than to challenge the Emperor himself in the great arena?” IT’S SO GOOD! Gladiator is a complete story; there was no desire to see a sequel, prequel, remake, or anything of the sort. But now, Ridley Scott has the desire to tinker with another of his classic films, so he just landed on a story no one wanted.

Deadline reports that the sequel (penned by Peter Craig of The Town and the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick) will follow the story of Lucius, the son of Lucilla, nephew to the slain Commodus, as it would be hard to follow the story of Maximus’ son (you know, being dead and all). Maximus saved Lucius and his mother during his quest for revenge, which left a lasting impression on the boy. Sources claim that Paramount will be working on the project, as opposed to the DreamWorks/Universal joint production that the 12-time Oscar nominee was, so mileage may vary.

If they were to do a sequel and not this weird subversion of events, there was a story of Juba (Djimon Hounsou’s character) and how he won his freedom after the events of the film that would be very interesting. But instead, it will be this quasi-historical retelling of the final years of the Holy Roman Empire’s tumultuous “Year of the Five Emperors” and perhaps part of the Severan Dynasty that led to the Fall of Rome. An interesting time in history, to be sure, but how exactly does it weave into the Gladiator story? Time will (unfortunately) tell!