UGO.com had a chat with master filmmaker Ridley Scott during a press push for his "Tristan + Isolde" DVD, and the topic of "Gladiator 2" briefly came up — and let’s just say that you shouldn’t expect to see "The Return of Maximus" anytime soon.
From UGO: "We tried. Russell (Crowe) didn’t want to let it go, obviously, because it worked very well. I mean, when I say ‘worked very well,’ I don’t refer to success. I mean, as a piece it works very well. Storytelling, he works brilliantly. I think he enjoyed doing it, and I think it was one of those things that he thought, "Well, maybe there’s a sequel where we can adjust the fantasy and bring him back from the dead."
UGO: You said that you loved the ending. What was it about that draft that you couldn’t get it off the ground?
RIDLEY: We were all having a go. DreamWorks was having a go, so we were having a go. DreamWorks was addressing Rome without Maximus, because clearly he’s gone, and he’s dead. Therefore, it would be to the son that Maximus had probably left behind with his affair with Lucilla. You’re then basing a film on a different kind of premise. Again, you’re basing it on a corrupt Rome, the Rome that would be heading to its own demise. It was far more rambling and complex. Often great plays are very simple, and I think that the mechanics of the Gladiator story were really very satisfactory and worked very well."
For the rest of the interview, which touches upon the underrated "Tristan," the classic "Alien," and the brilliant "Blade Runner," click right here.
