Steven Spielberg Saved Us From This Bonkers 'Gladiator II' Script (2024)

Gladiator II takes place 20 years after Ridley Scott's original film, with Paul Mescal playing an older Lucius, the son of Russel Crowe's Maximus Decimus Meridius. Long-time fans of Scott's work have undoubtedly heard of an alternate script that brought Maximus back to life, but did you know that it's thanks to a legendary Hollywood director that the film was never made? Speaking to The New York Times, Scott reflected on the original Gladiator II script written by the iconic musician Nick Cave.

Steven Spielberg acted as a consultant on the original Gladiator, and became a close confidant of Scott's when he began looking to pen a sequel. However, Nick Cave had already written one, and it was very different from the Gladiator II that is about to hit U.S. theaters. Scott was already cautious of pursuing Cave's script, but it was Spielberg who put the final nail in the coffin of the bonkers concept for a sequel. Scott explained:

"There was even a sequel idea that the musician Nick Cave wrote, where Maximus is resurrected as an instrument of the Roman gods dispatched against Jesus Christ. That obviously didn’t happen. It got too grand. Nick is very high theater, and Steven Spielberg [who was consulted on the original film] said, 'Nah.' I wasn’t confident about what we had actually put together, so I just let it go."

'Gladiator III' Could Happen Soon (And Nick Cave Won't Write It)

While he's best known for his work as a musician, Nick Cave has written several screenplays in the past. His most successful story is the underappreciated 2012 western, Lawless, starring Tom Hardy, Guy Pierce, and Shia LaBeouf, directed by John Hillcoat. However, it's safe to say that Ridley Scott made the right call when he turned down Cave's Gladiator II script. However, it's hard to argue that Cave's bonkers script which pits Maximus against Jesus Christ would have been interesting to see.

Gladiator II is currently screening in the U.K. and European cinemas — with U.S. audiences patiently waiting until November 22 — but Ridley Scott is already eyeing up a trilogy. In October, the director confirmed he'd already begun writing the third installment in the franchise. "I’ve already got eight pages. I’ve got the beginning of a very good footprint," he said. With Gladiator II still awaiting release in the US, it's unlikely we'll get any news about Gladiator III's plot anytime soon. However, one thing is for certain... Nick Cave won't be writing it.

While some fans thought we'd never get Gladiator II, the news of Gladiator III's development came as a welcome surprise. In a separate interview, Paul Mescal jokingly confirmed that it won't take anywhere near as long for the threequel to hit theaters. "I don’t think it will be [24] years — but I have no idea when it will be," he said. But, while audiences wait for the trilogy to be completed, Scott and Mescal are already set to work together on a brand-new movie. The Dog Stars will take Scott and Mescal to the post-apocalypse, in a story adapted from Peter Heller's novel of the same name.

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Gladiator II

R

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.

Release Date

November 22, 2024

Director

Ridley Scott

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