Russell Crowe was to be resurrected in the canceled sequel to Nick Cave's Gladiator
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Ridley Scott has revealed details of Nick Cave's unrealized script for Gladiator 2, where Maximus was supposed to be resurrected through a portal. The new sequel, which is currently being filmed, will have a different plot with Paul Mescal in the lead role.
Russell Crowe was supposed to reprise his role in the canceled sequel to Nick Cave's Gladiator, reports UNN with reference to NME.
Ridley Scott admitted that he wanted Russell Crowe to reprise his role in the canceled sequel to Nick Cave's Gladiator, and Maximus was “resurrected.” In the 2000 epic, Russell Crowe portrayed Maximus, a Roman general who became a brave fighter in the Colosseum who dies at the end of the movie.
Ridley Scott recalled to PEOPLE:
Russell and I tried it about 18 years ago. I had Nick Cave writing the script, and I kept telling [Russell]: “But you're dead.” And he said: “I know I'm dead and I want to come back from the dead
As Ridley Scott himself noted, one of the ideas for resurrecting Maximus was a “portal”. However, Russell Crowe rejected this idea because it would mean that another actor would play the resurrected version of Maximus.
According to a 2018 BBC report , Nick Cave's Gladiator II opened with Maximus in the afterlife, where he meets several fallen Roman deities. They ask that he kill the god Hephaestus and in return be reunited with his dead wife and son. At some point during his journey, Maximus returns to the world of the living, about two decades after his death.
Now, 23 years after the original's release, Gladiator II has gone in a different direction, starring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal, among others. In the movie, Mescal plays Lucius, the young boy from the 2000 film.
In a three-star review, NME described Gladiator II as “a Colosseum-sized sequel to the first film,” adding that fans of Gladiator should enjoy the movie. After all, the plot is just as exciting: sword fighting, rousing speeches, nasty brawlers who get what they deserve.
However, the film's director, Ridley Scott, said he was considering another sequel.
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