24 years after Gladiator with Russell Crowe, which is now considered a cult film, Ridley Scott opens the sequel.
Gladiator II takes place years after the first part. After witnessing the death of Maximus, young Lucius was forcibly sent by his mother to Africa. 20 years later, when Rome has just conquered his country, he is forced to enter the Colosseum and fight to entertain the tyrannical emperors Caracalla and Geta who now rule. With rage at heart and the future of the empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find the strength and honor to restore Rome to its people.
If Russell Crowe Conspicuously absent from this sequel, the character of Maximus is mentioned several times and the entire film is a tribute to the hero of the 2000 film, with Connie Nielsen reprising her role as Lucilla and Paul Mescall as his son Lucius. They are surrounded by Pedro Pascal as General Marcus Acacius, Denzel Washington as the calculating Macrinus, and Joseph Quinn and Fred Hatchinger as Emperor Geta and Caracalla respectively.
Why did Ridley Scott take 24 years to make the Gladiator sequel?
Set as a stand-alone film, Gladiator was not intended to have a sequel. The feature ending at the 5th Academy Awards with Maximus’ death as the climax left little room for Russell Crowe to continue.
he asked Entertainment Weekly On this topic, Ridley Scott explained that while writing the first opus, he did not consider the continuation of his epic, because everyone was too busy. “Honestly, we were all busy. So, honestly, nobody really thought about it at the time.” The director went on to make The Black Hawk Down and Hannibal while Russell Crowe Continued filming (The Exchange, An Exceptional Man, Master & Commander).
Russell Crowe
However, following the success of the first film, a second opus was planned for 2001. Ridley Scott explains in the press kit: “The movie stuck in the public mind. I knew we had to think about a sequel, but it took us years to find the story we wanted to tell.”
In 2006, Paramount – now the rights holder – hired singer Nick Cave, already the screenwriter of the western The Proposition, to write a sequel to the Ridley Scott film.
An abandoned project written by Nick Cave…
In Cave’s script, Maximus (Russell Crowe) returns from the dead, crossing different historical periods, from the Roman Empire to World War II to modern warfare. This script, tentatively titled The Christ Killer (Maximus was supposed to kill Christ), explored the themes of reincarnation and divine retribution. But the project was eventually shelved because it was considered too mystical.
In 2018, news emerged of a more classic sequel, this time without Nick Cave. Ridley Scott – Determined not to make the same mistake as Alien and Blade Runner by not directing a sequel himself, he wants to return to a more Roman-era story and focus on Lucius, nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). But the director and producers are waiting to get the plot right.
Gladiator 2
Peter Craig (Top Gun 2) was originally hired to write the screenplay before it was reworked by David Scarpa, who had already worked with Ridley Scott on All the Money in the World and Napoleon.
Lucius: The Reverse Journey of Maximus
The screenwriter explains in the press kit: “When Ridley contacted me, I was so excited. ‘Gladiator’ is such a revered classic. I was honored and a little nervous to work with the people who created that world. Ridley has a very strong directorial voice and his vision is the heart of the film.”
It was also during the discussion between Scarpa and Ridley Scott that the beginning of the script for Gladiator 2 was born. For the filmmaker, after the death of Maximus, young Lucius, as the rightful heir of the Roman Empire, faced great danger. Lucilla is therefore forced to send him far away from Rome to ensure his protection.
Paul Mescal
David Scarpa Telling the story of Lucius’ journey, Gladiator II was created from this premise. He specifies: “We started by putting our main character, Lucius, in the diametric opposite of Maximus’ story. Maximus is originally a Roman general who faces a barbarian army. Lucius is a barbarian defending his home from a Roman invasion. Maxime is loyal to the emperor. Lucius hates Rome and everything about it. And yet, both are forced to kill or be killed to entertain the crowd“.
Gladiator II takes place 20 years after the deaths of Maximus and Commodus, and therefore fits perfectly with the time that passed between the two feature films.
Gladiator 2 hits theaters this Wednesday, November 13.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
