Ridley Scott confirms “thinking” about a Gladiator 3
He explains how he imagined the ending in this sense.
25 years ago, nothing suggested that Gladiator would have a sequel. The story of Maximus (Russell Crowe) was total and definitive, until his death in the center of the arena. That of his son, Lucius (Paul Mescal), is much more open. It even opens the way to another aspect, to a Gladiator 3 !
Warning: big spoilers!
Little reminder of the ending: In the final moments, as Rome is about to sink into chaos and under the yoke of the vicious Macrinus (Denzel Washington) who secretly hatched a three-band plot, Lucius succeeded in rallying the army of General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal). While the Roman soldiers face each other, a fight to the death begins between Lucius and Macrinus. Obviously, the younger of the two emerges victorious. And in a grand final speech, invites the troops not to kill each other, but rather to restore calm to Rome and restore the Empire to its former greatness. So will Lucius be the new leader of the city? Will he fulfill the dream of his mother and his grandfather Marcus Aurelius?
The director Ridley Scott confirms in EW that this ending is not trivial. Lucius’ survival – unlike Maximus – was written with a view to Gladiator 3 :
“People ask me if a third film is possible. And I say: Of course! It’s an instinctive response. Have we figured out how to do it yet? Not really…” tempers the filmmaker before confirming:
“But of course I was already thinking about that when I was working on Gladiator II. I was already thinking about the sequel based on who would survive. It’s always better if there’s a survivor to make a sequel…”
Gladiator 3 is not for tomorrow, but it is in any case in the back of the mind of Ridley Scott and also of Paul Mescalwho is ready to put the sandals back on: “It’s up to Ridley to decide. It’s his baby. But all the projects he has interest me! Now, to be honest, he didn’t tell me much about Gladiator 3to me, personally… So I would be curious to see what he would do with it.“
