Gladiator, released in 2000, was a great success at the box office and received praise from critics. The film became the second highest-grossing production of the year, after Tom Cruise’s action movie Mission Impossible 2.
Gladiator, which earned Russell Crowe the Best Actor Oscar for his role as the captured gladiator Maximus, was selected as Best Picture at the 73rd Academy Awards.
In an interview with Total Film magazine, Scott clarified the 23-year gap between the first Gladiator and its sequel. The director explained that Gladiator 2 didn’t have a good script until he came up with the idea to focus on Lucilla’s son, Lucius.
Why now? Because he didn’t have a script before. Actually, we tried it 4 years ago and I chose a very good writer, but he couldn’t get his head around it. It was forced. He was very sorry he couldn’t deliver.
Stating that it took the screenwriter 10 months to write a script for the sequel of Gladiator, the 85-year-old director added: “Then we went back and forth and came back with a very clear idea. Why not? There is one survivor. The survivor is the child born to Lucilla and Maximus.”
Although details about the plot of Gladiator 2 are not yet clear, Scott confirmed that the film will focus on Lucius’ journey as an adult and will take place years after the events of the first film.
At the end of Gladiator, Maximus died in a fight with Commodus to save Lucilla and Lucius. Spencer Treat Clark played the character of Lucius in Gladiator, but Paul Mescal will portray the character in Gladiator 2.
Names such as Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Peter Mensah and Matt Lucas will also star in the sequel. Washington, 68, will be working with Scott again for the first time since 2007’s American Gangster.
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