Zürcher Nachrichten - 'Gladiator 3' already in works, say director and star

EUR -
AED 3.821057
AFN 73.006821
ALL 98.512217
AMD 415.678797
ANG 1.873062
AOA 948.764769
ARS 1069.072052
AUD 1.649931
AWG 1.872562
AZN 1.770572
BAM 1.955447
BBD 2.098421
BDT 124.19758
BGN 1.956839
BHD 0.392129
BIF 3072.506989
BMD 1.040312
BND 1.411906
BOB 7.181704
BRL 6.505282
BSD 1.039312
BTN 88.499776
BWP 14.434394
BYN 3.401186
BYR 20390.119174
BZD 2.091322
CAD 1.49394
CDF 2985.696084
CHF 0.935655
CLF 0.037305
CLP 1029.367761
CNY 7.592096
CNH 7.600745
COP 4550.231947
CRC 527.704739
CUC 1.040312
CUP 27.568273
CVE 110.282725
CZK 25.128844
DJF 185.07659
DKK 7.463155
DOP 63.308572
DZD 140.574623
EGP 52.912125
ERN 15.604683
ETB 132.329112
FJD 2.41212
FKP 0.823909
GBP 0.828868
GEL 2.923205
GGP 0.823909
GHS 15.283044
GIP 0.823909
GMD 74.902906
GNF 8982.3785
GTQ 8.008518
GYD 217.440748
HKD 8.07922
HNL 26.406233
HRK 7.462062
HTG 135.862824
HUF 411.523555
IDR 16866.581743
ILS 3.79457
IMP 0.823909
INR 88.831167
IQD 1361.45423
IRR 43784.131855
ISK 145.175469
JEP 0.823909
JMD 161.930768
JOD 0.737895
JPY 163.687937
KES 134.324804
KGS 90.506913
KHR 4176.242501
KMF 484.915563
KPW 936.280401
KRW 1516.624314
KWD 0.320604
KYD 0.866144
KZT 538.412806
LAK 22728.896977
LBP 93069.29912
LKR 306.304706
LRD 189.22587
LSL 19.325111
LTL 3.071771
LVL 0.629274
LYD 5.102079
MAD 10.480808
MDL 19.175538
MGA 4902.11507
MKD 61.518895
MMK 3378.893454
MNT 3534.98073
MOP 8.314299
MRU 41.48851
MUR 48.96761
MVR 16.02902
MWK 1802.174671
MXN 20.97774
MYR 4.667854
MZN 66.479829
NAD 19.325111
NGN 1603.786908
NIO 38.243096
NOK 11.804528
NPR 141.547448
NZD 1.842566
OMR 0.400258
PAB 1.039312
PEN 3.870101
PGK 4.218239
PHP 60.909762
PKR 289.341068
PLN 4.260908
PYG 8105.536788
QAR 3.781353
RON 4.977166
RSD 116.947785
RUB 103.957734
RWF 1449.838275
SAR 3.906518
SBD 8.721515
SCR 14.841021
SDG 625.744421
SEK 11.551938
SGD 1.413264
SHP 0.823909
SLE 23.721347
SLL 21814.829886
SOS 593.992772
SRD 36.471239
STD 21532.362215
SVC 9.094358
SYP 2613.815872
SZL 19.33351
THB 35.547799
TJS 11.374265
TMT 3.651496
TND 3.31516
TOP 2.436519
TRY 36.73036
TTD 7.062725
TWD 34.010202
TZS 2517.555813
UAH 43.577933
UGX 3804.313245
USD 1.040312
UYU 46.277438
UZS 13417.577857
VES 53.654247
VND 26444.736193
VUV 123.507948
WST 2.874162
XAF 655.838608
XAG 0.035157
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.811496
XDR 0.796856
XOF 655.838608
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.468147
ZAR 19.379149
ZMK 9364.060487
ZMW 28.762808
ZWL 334.980105
  • SCS

    0.0800

    11.73

    +0.68%

  • NGG

    -0.1600

    58.86

    -0.27%

  • GSK

    -0.0300

    34.03

    -0.09%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    22.9

    +0.26%

  • RIO

    -0.0300

    59.2

    -0.05%

  • CMSD

    0.1000

    23.65

    +0.42%

  • BCC

    0.9500

    123.19

    +0.77%

  • CMSC

    -0.1321

    23.77

    -0.56%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.24

    -0.14%

  • RBGPF

    59.8000

    59.8

    +100%

  • AZN

    -0.3300

    66.3

    -0.5%

  • BTI

    0.0400

    36.26

    +0.11%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.43

    +0.71%

  • BP

    0.0400

    28.79

    +0.14%

  • RELX

    0.3000

    45.89

    +0.65%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    12.15

    +0.41%

'Gladiator 3' already in works, say director and star

'Gladiator 3' already in works, say director and star

Ridley Scott's long-awaited "Gladiator" sequel has not even hit US theaters yet, but the veteran director is already hard at work on a third installment.

Text size:

"Gladiator II," which arrives in North American cinemas Friday, stars Irish actor Paul Mescal ("Normal People") as Lucius, the son of Russell Crowe's Maximus from the multiple Oscar-winning original.

A bloody, blockbuster epic of revenge, treachery and -- yes -- gladiators, it has drawn positive reviews and already hauled in a muscular $87 million at the global box office since opening in several countries last week.

"Given the performance in the rest of the world that we've seen yesterday, there's certainly going to be a 'Gladiator III,'" said Scott, in Los Angeles on Monday for the movie's glitzy US premiere.

"Because it also becomes financial, and you'd be insane not to consider a third version," said the British director of seminal films such as "Blade Runner" and "Thelma & Louise."

The plot of "Gladiator II" was also "planned to leave it wide open to a sequel," added Scott, a famously prolific filmmaker who is still directing roughly a film per year at the age of 86.

The second film opens with Lucius -- sent into exile by his mother to avoid certain death in Rome -- battling in vain to defend his adopted North African home city from the arrival of seemingly unstoppable Roman soldiers.

Captured as a prisoner of war, he is brought back to the imperial metropolis, where he must prove his worth in the Colosseum in order to exact revenge on invading general Marcus Acacius, played by Pedro Pascal.

Danish actress Connie Nielsen reprises her role as Lucilla from the 2000 original, while Denzel Washington is already earning Oscar buzz for his conniving, mercurial and highly flamboyant ringmaster, Macrinus.

"Jewelry, sandals and everything -- I just looked like a Roman pimp... I couldn't put on enough rings," joked Washington on Monday.

- 'Political' -

Mescal -- whose character battles bloodthirsty baboons, rhinos and sharks in addition to humans in "Gladiator II" -- also expressed excitement about returning for another film.

But he said Scott had discussed a new direction for the plot that would not simply "go back to the arena as we know it."

"The last time I spoke to (Scott) he said he had nine pages. Yesterday, he said he had 14," Mescal told journalists.

"I would be excited for it to go into a more political sphere," with Lucius thrust into a world of court intrigue that he does not want to inhabit, like Michael Corleone in "The Godfather," added Mescal.

Asked how the second film's themes tackled power and politics differently, some 24 years after the original Scott said: "They're exactly the same."

"A super-rich man thinks he can take over the Empire. Is that familiar?" he said, just days after billionaire Donald Trump's re-election as US president.

"We don't learn historically anything. We keep repeating the same mistakes. We're going through exactly the same thing right now in several parts of the planet," he added.

X.Blaser--NZN