By Molly Moss

Published: Friday, 06 January 2023 at 12:00 am


When Sir Ridley Scott’s roman epic Gladiator was first released in 2000, it was a massive hit at the box office, grossing $457 million worldwide receiving nominations for 11 Oscars, winning for Best Picture and Best Actor (Russell Crowe).

The original Gladiator followed Maximum (Crowe), a legatus who was forced to become a slave after he was betrayed by Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), a power-crazed emperor behind the deaths of Maximus’s wife and child.

Fuelled by rage and grief, Maximum rose through the Colosseum’s gladiatorial contests, before emerging victorious against Commodus in a duel but succumbing to his injuries.

The original movie was such a huge success that multiple attempts at a sequel have been made since, with numerous names attached to the project, including the writers of the original film, David Franzoni and John Logan, as well as new faces such as The Batman’s Peter Craig.

Now finally, a sequel is officially on the way, with Scott – who will reprise his role as the film’s director – seeking stars to appear in the project, according to Puck News.

Gladiator 2 was greenlit by Paramount in November 2018, and in 2021, Scott confirmed to Collider that a script for Gladiator 2 was already completed saying: “Oh, it’s been written. It’s already been written.

“We have a good footprint, a good, logical place to go. You can’t just do another Gladiator-type movie. You’ve got to follow… there are enough components from the first one to pick up the ball and continue it.”