Gladiator fighting back

Ridley Scott’s 2000 film Gladiator was fairly straightforward. Russell Crowe seeks vengeance against those who murdered his family and enslaved him but loses his life in the process. The story was all tied up nicely with a bow on top.

But, we’re talking about Hollywood remember, and the film made stacks of cash and won five Oscars so... of course there’s a sequel!

Ridley Scott has said he’s working with screenwriter Peter Craig on Gladiator 2, which will focus on Lucius - the young boy from the first film. Only now he’s an adult. If that sounds dull, then place it next to Nick Cave and Russell Crowe’s idea for a follow-up, and it disappears into a colourless mulch.

About a decade ago, Crowe commissioned musician/writer Cave to write a new Gladiator film, and the result was bizarre. Like 300 without the spray-on abs. The script opened with Maximus (Crowe) awaking in the afterlife and embarking on a journey that involved time travel, epic battles with gods, and finishing with the character becoming the historical, crosscultural, personification of “war”.

Russell Crowe in Gladiator