« Çit also becomes financial, it would be crazy not to consider a third version », confided the director. The latter does not hide that Gladiator 2 looks a lot like the first part.
The long-awaited sequel to Gladiator has not yet been released in the United States and its director, Ridley Scott, already announced on Monday, November 18, that he was at work on a third opus. The second part, released Wednesday, November 13, attracted relatively good reviews and has already accumulated $87 million in box office revenue in countries where it is already available.
« Given the performances in the rest of the world since yesterday, there will for sure be a Gladiator 3,” said Ridley Scott during the American premiere in Los Angeles. “ Because it also becomes financial, it would be crazy not to consider a third version », added the British director, acclaimed for Blade Runner or even Thelma et Louise. The scenario of the second opus was “ planned to leave ample room for the possibility of a sequel », explains the filmmaker who, at almost 87 years old, has made 18 films since the release in 2000 of the first Gladiator.
Paul Mescal, who plays Maximus' son Lucius in the second installment, was excited about the possibility of starring in a third film. Ridley Scott would have mentioned a new direction for the plot which would not ” would not simply bring back into the arena as we saw it » until then. “ The last time I spoke to Ridley Scott, he had nine pages. Yesterday he said he had 14 “, said the actor, revealed in the series Normal People, to journalists. “ I would be delighted if it went into a more political sphere “, with Lucius thrown into the pit of court intrigues that he would seek to flee, like Michael Corleone in The Godfatherhe added.
Similar frame
Gladiator 2 comes out this Friday in the United States. Exiled in Numidia (northern Africa), Lucius is taken prisoner of war and in turn becomes a gladiator after the Roman army, led by General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), invades his adopted land. Seduced by his rage, Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a former slave hungry for power, makes him fight in Rome, in a plot very similar to that of the first Gladiator, which the film constantly echoes.
Asked about the differences between the first and second parts in the way of tackling questions of power and politics, the director did not hide his intentions: “ it's exactly the same thing ». « A very rich man thinks he can simply seize the reins of the empire… does that mean anything to you?“, he asked, less than two weeks after the election of Republican billionaire Donald Trump to the White House. “ We learn nothing from history. We are just repeating the same mistakes. We are experiencing the same thing in several places on the planet at the moment.. »
The first part, released in 2000, was a commercial and critical success. The feature film won numerous awards including five Oscars including Best Film and Best Actor for Russell Crowe.
