I think they're making a big mistake doing this. Gladiator is one of my all time favorite movies, but it was not designed to have a sequel or a prequel whatever. It could diminish the franchise IMHO.
LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE! This movie stands on its own as a classic and a sequal will only harm it's reputation (Look at Rocky, a great movie franchised to death).
Since I didn't hold it quite as highly as some of you, a sequel isn't unattractive. Since they'll be revolving the story on someone other than Maximus (I'm guessing) the story could involve something interesting. How often do we get to see Hollywood-sized blockbusters about ancient Rome?
Since I didn't hold it quite as highly as some of you, a sequel isn't unattractive. Since they'll be revolving the story on someone other than Maximus (I'm guessing) the story could involve something interesting. How often do we get to see Hollywood-sized blockbusters about ancient Rome?
Yes, but the temptation to follow the formula of the original to ensure a blockbuster type hit insults us true fans. We don't want to recycle another Gladiator performance, we want something original. Yes there are many stories that can be done on Rome...countless no doubt.....but to associate it with a previous movie in an attempt to milk the former movie's success is cheap I think. Quo Vadis, Cleopatra, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Gladiator, Spartacus, and Ben Hur are all great movies about the Roman era, but they all stood on their own without mooching off of a previous movie. I know Ridley Scott can be more original if he wanted to be.
Interesting, I did not know that. This is also kind of strange:
I got my hands on his script and read it late into the night. It was unlike anything I had read before. It was absurd, in the very best way. The script featured Maximus being cast out of purgatory by the Gods and sent to destroy the growing cult of Christianity.
Not only was the original Gladiator supposed to be a historical film, rather than a mytho-historical one, but having a plot to destroy burgeoning Christianity doesn't sound like it would go over all that well.