A Gladiator sequel was officially greenlit by Paramount in November 2018, and director Ridley Scott has now confirmed the script for the film is written. While Scott has kept himself quite busy as of recent, with two major releases this year in The Last Duel and House of Gucci, he will still tackle the continuing story of Gladiator. Peter Craig (The Town, The Batman) has written the sequel, which is expected to follow Lucius, who was played by Spencer Treat Clark in the 2000 film.
The sequel is set to enter production after Kitbag, the next film Scott is set to direct. Kitbag will center on the story of Napoleon Bonaparte, with Joaquin Phoenix taking on the role of the French leader. Scott had the following to say about the Gladiator sequel and its script when speaking with Deadline:
"Oh, it’s been written. It’s already been written. We have a good footprint, a good, logical place to go. You can't just do another Gladiator type movie. You’ve got to follow…there’s enough components from the first one to pick up the ball and continue it."
Given that the sequel will be following Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), a 25-30 year time jump will be taking place. Russell Crowe, who portrayed Maximus, is still expected to appear in the film even though he dies at the end of the first film. No further castings or plot details are known, though fellow Australian actor Chris Hemsworth expressed interest in the sequel to Crowe back in April. The two worked togethe on Thor: Love and Thunder, where Crowe is expected to have a brief cameo as Zeus.
Kitbag and Gladiator 2 are the only two films Scott has in the pipeline at the moment, so it's very encouraging for Gladiator's sequel to finally get off the ground. Developments had began as early as June 2001, and have been on and off ever since. A draft with a religious angle came about in 2006, with Maximus set to be resurrected by the Roman gods and sent back to Earth to halt the development of Christianity. The script ultimately never saw the light of day, which is not surprising given that Scott had made it clear that he preferred a more grounded historical fiction approach.
There's no current release date for the Gladiator sequel. Scott's next film, House of Gucci, will be released in theaters on November 24.