MOVIE NEWS – Ridley Scott’s Gladiator III gets a “Colosseum-sized” updated…

It looks like fans won’t have to wait nearly 25 years for another Gladiator sequel this time. In a brand new interview, director Ridley Scott revealed that he is already writing the script for the next adventure in the infamous and bloody Roman Colosseum. A potential Gladiator III is good news, especially when the second instalment is almost two months away. Scott revealed the news to Total Film magazine (via GamesRadar):

“I’ve already got eight pages. I’ve got the beginning of a very good footprint. If there’s a Gladiator III, I don’t think you’d ever go back into the arena. But I had to go back into the arena.”

Decades have passed between the Russell Crowe-led Gladiator (2000) and the second instalment starring Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, which arrives this November. Scott’s original film remains a fan favourite. So the pressure is on to deliver a worthy sequel. Scott also spoke about Gladiator’s lasting legacy in the same interview, saying:

“The first movie really definitely touched the imagination in a way I didn’t quite expect.”

“Because when they heard that Ridley is doing a Roman epic – a sword-and-spear-and-sandal movie – there was a lot of sniggering. Because up to that date, they’d always been very, you know, old- style Hollywood. And I knew what to do. And from that, I, in a modernized kind of films. Then, you know, it spawns a lot of other guys in leather skirts.”

Before Gladiator III, Denzel Washington takes the lead

Casting Denzel Washington in Gladiator II as the power-hungry Macrinus was a brilliant move by Ridley Scott and his creative team. The director knows all too well that the long-awaited sequel will either bask in or hide in the shadow of the original, the Oscar-winning Gladiator (best film, best actor, best costume design, best sound, best visual effects).

Thus, the inclusion of Washington in the role of Macrinus, whose character was a real-life Roman emperor, gives the film much more momentum and, therefore, a real competitive chance to be as successful as its predecessor. Plus, in an interview with Empire, Washington talks about why he joined the project. It gives fans a taste of what to expect from Macrinus. The actor said:

“[Macrinus] wants to be Emperor, and he’s willing to do anything to get there. There are very few films left for me to make that I’m interested in, and I have to be inspired by the filmmaker, and I was tremendously inspired by Ridley. We had a great go-round the first go-round [on American Gangster], and here we are. He’s engaged. He’s excited about life and his next film. He’s an inspiration. We should all want to feel like that at 86.”

Washington’s presence in the sequel is definitely a game-changer. However, there are more rumours about Scott’s film, including the very spoilery relationship between Maximus (Crowe) and Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal), Gladiator II’s protagonist. But for now, fans will simply have to wait until November finally arrives, and moviegoers will have something to be truly thankful for.

Source: GamesRadar