By Creative Media Times

Sir Ridley Scott is revisiting ancient Rome with a sequel to “Gladiator” moving forward. Variety is reporting that the director/producer is developing the follow-up to the 2000 historical epic drama.

Screenwriter Peter Craig (The Town, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and 2) will write the script. He is also credited for the upcoming sequel “Top Gun: Maverick.”

The British film-maker last helmed the “All the Money in the World,” a film about the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III and “Alien: Covenant,” both of which were released last year.

Last year, the director mentioned that the script was “on the shelf”. In fact, the sequel to Gladiator has been mentioned over the years since Gladiator’s successful run at the box-office, eventually culminating into an oscar best picture win and a best actor win for its star Russell Crowe. Gladiator grossed $460 million worldwider.

It would of course be difficult to bring Crowe back into the film given the fate of his character and events that transpired in the original, though many other sources claim the sequel will focus on Lucius, son of Lucilla (played by Connie Nielsen in the original film).

The storyline will center on Lucius, the son of Connie Nielsen’s character Lucilla from the original film. Lucius is the nephew of Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus, the Roman leader killed by Russell Crowe’s Maximus.

There is currently no information about the production star nor release of the film.