While Gladiator 2 has only just arrived in cinemas, Ridley Scott is already talking about his next projects.
Barely arrived in theaters, Gladiator 2 is off to a very strong start at the box office, with already $87 million in revenue at the time of writing. 24 years after the monumental Gladiator (465 million at the worldwide box office, and five Oscars under the belt including that of best film, sorry), it therefore seems that the bet to replace Russell Crowe with Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington was a winner.
Even though many questions exist regarding the real budget of Gladiator 2which would be close to 310 million, to which Ridley Scott responds in the mode “What does that concern you?” »the film is well on its way to breaking records. Even before the release of the film, Ridley Scott had already mentioned avenues for a Gladiator 3. More before this third part comes to fruition, the director has another project in mindapparently.
Gladiator 3 will wait
At the microphone of Varietyin a short video published on X/Twitter, Ridley Scott confirmed that there would indeed be a Gladiator 3. However, before setting foot again in the world of peplums, the filmmaker slipped that he was preparing a science fiction film. When the reporter asked him if it was a new film AlienScott responded in the negative.
The filmmaker hasn't given any details regarding this project, and given that Sir Scott has his hands in roughly 14,000 projects at the same time (the series The Cartel, Panopticon, Trap Housethe Bee Gees biopic…) as a producer or director, it is difficult to know what it really is about.
In August 2023, Ridley Scott told the site Empire that he regretted not having realized Blade Runner 2049 himself. “ I shouldn't have had to make a choice. But I had to. I should have realized Blade Runner 2“, he explained. Perhaps this was a hint towards the type of film he wanted to make? Because if he will be a producer on the series Blade Runner 2099 for Amazon, nothing excludes the possibility of this franchise returning through the front door of cinemas.
Among his other unrealized science fiction projects, there is also an adaptation of the post-apocalyptic literary series Dust paths by author Moira Young envisaged in 2011. Even more ambitious, he had tried to tackle The eternal war by John Haldeman between 2008 and 2014, going so far as to obtain seven versions of different scenarios.
If the film was never made and Warner grabbed the rights in 2015 (without succeeding in adapting it either), the synopsis is in any case fascinating:
“In 2056, after the conquest of space has become a human reality for several years, a probe returns to Earth with images of an attack on an Earth vessel by an unidentified extraterrestrial people. Mad with terror, humanity then decides to create the United Nations Exploration Army for the survival of the human species. Then begins a war of ten centuries…”
Either way, the hot Ridley Scott news remains for now Gladiator 2, which has been in theaters since November 13, 2024.
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