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Gladiator 2's Biggest Challenge Is Maximus Being Dead
Gladiator Producer Doug Wick says that the biggest stumbling block for a potential Gladiator 2 is the fact that Maximus died in the original film. Gladiator was a box office smash and critical darling when it was released in 2000. It cemented Ridley Scott's reputation as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and established its lead, Russell Crowe, as a global superstar. It went on to win five academy awards, including Best Actor for Crowe, as well as Best Picture.
Rumors about a Gladiator 2 have swirled for years, but the sequel has yet to get past the planning stage. The latest news, in 2018, was that Scott is working on a script with Peter Craig and that he would return to direct it. Earlier incarnations of Gladiator 2 included a potential prequel, which was quickly dismissed, as well as a sequel script written by Nick Cave. That version would have seen the character of Maximus brought back to life through the body of another dead soldier, after spending time in the afterlife hanging out with the Roman gods. It was rejected as being too out there and not in the spirit of the original.
Speaking to Comicbook, Wick says that the issue of bringing Maximus back to life is a major creative hurdle for the team working on the sequel. Wick also says that everyone who worked on the first film really loves it, and that they don't want to cheapen its legacy by producing a sequel that doesn't work, or relies on exploiting the popularity of the original. You can read his full comments below.
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"Ridley would love to do it. Everyone [involved with the original] loves the movie too much to ever consider cheaply exploiting it ... It's just really a clear creative problem, working on a script ... Ridley's working on it, it's really just a question of whether we can get it to a place where it feels worthy to make it ... And, of course, the leading man is dead."
Wick also says that back when the first movie came out, Crowe's agent called him up and half-jokingly said the easiest way to bring Maximus back to life is to open the sequel with a scene that shows his death in the first movie was faked. That idea clearly did not fly with the producer.
The issue of bringing back Maximus is not just a narrative one. The other problem is that Crowe is noticeably older, given that the first film was released two decades ago, and long ago lost the physique that made him such a commanding on-screen presence. For him to return, regardless of how Scott and Craig achieve it narratively, Crowe would have to put in some serious time in the gym.
There is, of course, an option for a sequel that doesn't involve resurrecting Maximus. Rather, Gladiator 2 could focus on the character of Lucius, the son of Maximus' ex-lover Lucilla, and where he ends up as an adult. This might be a more natural and less gimmicky way to produce a sequel, that doesn't cheapen the original, as Wick fears. It could deal with the same general era of Roman imperialism, and tackle similar themes of freedom and slavery, like the original. If Scott insists on bringing Crowe back as Maximus, though, he will have to ensure the reasoning behind it is solid. Otherwise, Gladiator 2 could end up looking like a cheap attempt to cash in on a much-loved film.
