It’s been more than 20 years since we first heard Russel Crowe’s Maximus Decimus Meridius mention his now-iconic line in theaters and put on a masterful performance in 2000’s epic historical drama, Gladiator. The film went grossed nearly half a billion in the box office during its theatrical run. At the same time, it also received several nominations and won a handful of awards, including five at the 73rd Academy Awards. However, despite the film’s success, it never saw a sequel - until now. According to the 83-year-old filmmaking legend, Ridley Scott, a sequel to Gladiator is in the pipeline after he’s done working on his current projects.
When is the Gladiator sequel going to premiere?
It appears that Scott doesn’t intend to let age stop him. After taking a break following 2017’s Alien Covenant and All the Money in the World, the award-winning producer and director is adding two more films to his long list of projects in The Last Duel and House of Gucci. Beyond the two aforementioned films, Scott has even two more planned, including Gladiator 2. The Last Duel and House of Gucci are set to release in October and November, respectively. Afterward, Scott will focus his efforts on Kitbag. The upcoming movie will cast Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role in a story that details how Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power. Even if Kitbag has no launch date yet, Scott has already set his mind to work on a highly-anticipated sequel to Gladiator next. According to an interview with Empire Magazine, Scott has scheduled Gladiator for after Kitbag. He also revealed that the film’s script is already in the works. With that said, we’re interested to see where the story of the Gladiator sequel will take audiences. The first movie centered around the story of Crowe’s Maximus and the usurper Roman emperor, Commodus, who was portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix. Both characters died in the first movie, with Maximus killing Commodus. Back in 2019, producers revealed that the sequel would take place after the first movie. This would suggest that the plot would center on Lucius, Commodus’ nephew. Scott was scheduled to work on Gladiator 2 back in 2019 if not much earlier. Unfortunately, Scott had his hands full working on HBO Max’s Raised by Wolves. Thankfully, with the help of Paramount Pictures and Top Gun: Maverick’s screenwriter, Peter Craig, the production of Gladiator 2 is finally set to happen within the next few years. Speaking of Paramount, the studio has elected to delay its remaining slate of movies for 2021 to 2022. This includes Jackass: Forever, a move that prompted a response from one of the film’s stars, Steve-O, following reports that Paramount had postponed the latest Jackass film’s release date because of the ongoing lawsuit by longtime Jackass member, Bam Margera.
