Yes, you read that right. Apparently a script for Gladiator 2 was written, rejected, and has now been leaked onto the internet. The script is up for download here [http://funes.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/gladiator-2-script-by-nick-cave/], if you're interested. There's also a news article [http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/may/06/nick-cave-rejected-gladiator-script] about it, and, more interestingly, an analysis of the script [http://goneelsewhere.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/gladiator-2-script-review/].
Now, from what I've read, this actually sounds like it could work really well as a standalone film, but not at all as a sequel to Gladiator. It abandons what little pretence to historical accuracy the first movie had, and essentially makes it completely into a fantasy movie. The plot essentially reads like Gladiator, God of War and X-Men Origins: Wolverine thrown into a blender.
Essentially, the gods agree to bring Maximus back to life if he kills Hephaestus, who has apparently gone renegade. Upon meeting Hephaestus, however, Maximus refuses, and is subsequently condemned to live forever as a perpetual warrior. He goes back to Rome, and ends up meeting Commodus' now grown-up son. He leads a faction of Christians in rebellion against the Empire, and wins. Following this, he does indeed live forever, fighting through the Crusades, World War II, Vietnam, and ends up working at the Pentagon in the present day.
I, for one, am delighted that this script was rejected, and am praying that no studio decides to pick it up. If it were rewritten to be a standalone film, however, I might be interested, because it sounds quite entertaining, if derivative. I just hope they don't make it into a sequel and ruin Gladiator's good name. What does everyone else think?
Now, from what I've read, this actually sounds like it could work really well as a standalone film, but not at all as a sequel to Gladiator. It abandons what little pretence to historical accuracy the first movie had, and essentially makes it completely into a fantasy movie. The plot essentially reads like Gladiator, God of War and X-Men Origins: Wolverine thrown into a blender.
Essentially, the gods agree to bring Maximus back to life if he kills Hephaestus, who has apparently gone renegade. Upon meeting Hephaestus, however, Maximus refuses, and is subsequently condemned to live forever as a perpetual warrior. He goes back to Rome, and ends up meeting Commodus' now grown-up son. He leads a faction of Christians in rebellion against the Empire, and wins. Following this, he does indeed live forever, fighting through the Crusades, World War II, Vietnam, and ends up working at the Pentagon in the present day.
I, for one, am delighted that this script was rejected, and am praying that no studio decides to pick it up. If it were rewritten to be a standalone film, however, I might be interested, because it sounds quite entertaining, if derivative. I just hope they don't make it into a sequel and ruin Gladiator's good name. What does everyone else think?
