“Spielberg Said ‘Nah’”: Ridley Scott Scrapped A Gladiator 2 Script With Russell Crowe Returning At Steven Spielberg’s Suggestion (2024)

Ridley Scott explains how Steven Spielberg contributed to the original Gladiator II script being scrapped. After Gladiator became a critical and commercial hit following its theatrical release in 2000, it took more than two decades for a sequel to come to fruition. The Gladiator II story releasing in 2024, directed by Scott and with a cast led by Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, is entirely different from the original script written years earlier by musician Nick Cave.

While speaking with The New York Times, the script is described as having resurrected Russell Crowe's Maximus as "an instrument of the Roman gods dispatched against Jesus Christ." Scott already had his own misgivings about Cave's story, but Spielberg, who consulted on the original film, also encouraged him to pass. Check out Scott's comments below:

It got too grand. Nick is very high theater, and Steven Spielberg said, “Nah.” I wasn’t confident about what we had actually put together, so I just let it go.

What This Means For Gladiator II

The Sequel Is Better For Not Following Nick Cave's Script

The original Gladiator II script written by Cave would have changed the genre from a historical epic to a story more so based on mythology and fantasy. Even if Crowe did reprise his role as Maximus, the character's journey, the genre shift, and the story itself would have felt unrecognizable next to its predecessor. There has been criticism of 2024's Gladiator II feeling too similar to the original movie, but the criticisms would have been far worse if Cave's script had been used.

Instead, Gladiator II's reviews have been largely positive, especially when discussing Washington's performance. The movie is also expected to be a box office hit, as its domestic opening weekend release coincides with Wicked in a box office battle that has the potential to become the next Barbenheimer phenomenon. Following the journey of Maximus' son, Lucius Verus (Mescal), in another historical epic has far more widespread appeal than there would have been for Maximus being resurrected to murder Jesus.

Steven Spielberg Helped Save Gladiator II

It is for the best that Spielberg stepped in and helped ensure that Cave's Gladiator II script did not become the sequel's story. Scott made some questionable storytelling decisions in his expansions of the Alien franchise via Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Even though he was not enthusiastic about Cave's script, it is good that Spielberg helped solidify that it was not the right call for the sequel and that the Gladiator franchise was not led astray. 2024's Gladiator II is a much worthier and more fitting continuation of the story that began in Scott's Gladiator.

Source: The New York Times

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Gladiator II

Action

Drama

Epic

History

Adventure

Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott's award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.

Director

Ridley Scott

Release Date

November 22, 2024

Writers

David Scarpa , Peter Craig , David Franzoni

Cast

Paul Mescal , Pedro Pascal , Denzel Washington , Connie Nielsen , Joseph Quinn , Fred Hechinger , Derek Jacobi , May Calamawy , Peter Mensah , Matt Lucas , Alexander Karim , Tim McInnerny , Lee Charles , Chidi Ajufo , Alfie Tempest , Riana Duce , Chi Lewis Parry , Paul Candelent , Hadrian Howard , Alexander Simkin , Mikhail Basmadjian , Matthew Charlery-Smith , Maxime Durand , Lior Raz