There’s no denying the cultural impact Gladiator had upon its release in 2000. Ridley Scott brought the epic movie to the big screen and while the ending that fans saw was a definitive one, the genius also responsible for the Alien franchise and other big properties now apparently has an idea for a Gladiator sequel.
Russell Crowe in Gladiator
Speaking at this weekend’s South by Southwest Film Festival, Scott spoke to EW about potential sequels, to which he said he’d be interested in reviving the franchise, so long as lead actor Russell Crowe returns.
He explained: “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. 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.”
It’s interesting to hear that Scott has already been in conversations with the studio responsible for Gladiator about a sequel, and he seems to be more-than-convinced he could bring audiences back despite Crowe’s character definitely being dead at the end of the original movie. It also seems he’s been in talks with Crowe about the potential sequel.
There will always be those that think the original movie should be the only one in the franchise, and that a sequel would only take away from the huge impact it had. With that being said, Ridley Scott has had a great few years, reeling the fans back in with Prometheus and The Martian. Now he’s gearing up for the release of Alien: Covenant, so to see a sequel to Gladiator hit the big screen would be just another notch in his belt.
Tagged in Gladiator Sir Ridley Scott