There are certain films that many people say should probably just be left alone, devoid of any sequel or remake. Gladiator is arguably one of such films, having aged spectacularly well, and even now it still stands as arguably one of the best examples of film story telling to come about since the turn of the century.

Even so, almost 2 decades on from the first time Russell Crowe’s Maximus Decimus Meridius commanded his legion to unleash hell on our screens, word has long been spread of a potential sequel being in the works. Gladiator‘s director, Ridley Scott, was rumoured to be working on a whacky new concept for a Gladiator 2 back in 2018. However with those plans seemingly fizzling out, two new major forces have apparently joined forces to start working on a new concept for a return to ancient Rome: Crowe himself, and his spiritual successor as the pinnacle of jacked Australian action stars, Chris Hemsworth.

According to new rumours from Hemsworth and Crowe’s respective camps, the two have started spitballing concepts for a Gladiator sequel having grown close on the set of Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder. “Russell thinks he could be the only man to credibly play his son in a Gladiator sequel,” says a source, who went on to say they were ” carefully considering the concept” for the film and have “spent hours musing over script ideas.”

As the rumours suggest, the film won’t feature any in-his-prime Russell Crowe for middle-aged women to fawn over. Instead, the sequel will take place some time after the events of the first film, following Maximus’ son. Of course, the problem with this is that Maximus’s only known son in the film is, well, dead, having been murdered along with his mother as punishment for Maximus’ rebellion towards emperor Commodus. Still, stranger plot twists have happened in film history.

We’ll be sure to bring you more news on the film as it comes.

In the meantime, check out our guide to everything you should be streaming this month.

Source: gq.com.au