as a "deities vs. deity vs. humanity" story, where the premise involved Maximus being resurrected as an immortal eternal warrior for the Roman gods, after living in purgatory since his death. The story would follow Maximus, who is sent to Earth and tasked with stopping the momentum of Christianity by killing Jesus Christ and His disciples, as their movement was gradually siphoning off the Pagan power and vitality. During this mission, Maximus is tricked into murdering his own son, and cursed to live forever, fighting amongst: the Crusades, WWII, and the Vietnam War. The ending would reveal that in modern-day, the character now works at The Pentagon. The script was ultimately rejected and scrapped. After experiencing financial difficulties in the 2000s, DreamWorks Pictures was sold to Paramount Pictures in 2006 and any development on the sequel was halted. In March 2017, Scott stated that his concerns with prior difficulties of developing a script where Maximus is reintroduced after being deceased, had been resolved. The filmmaker expressed enthusiasm for the future of the project, while discussions with Russell Crowe to reprise his role were ongoing. In November 2018, it was announced that Paramount was officially green-lighting the development of a sequel, with Scott in early-negotiations to once again serve as director. The project would be a joint-venture production between Paramount, Scott Free Productions, and Parkes/MacDonald Productions with Universal as a co-financing partner. By June 2019, producers stated that they "wouldn't touch [Gladiator] unless we felt in a way to do it was legitimate." The script was revealed to take place 25–30 years after the first film. The plot is intended to center around Lucius. In April 2021, Chris Hemsworth approached Crowe with a proposal to become involved with the project. As a fan of the first installment, Hemsworth proposed serving as co-producer in order to see the film realized. While working together on Thor: Love and Thunder, the two actors shared additional ideas for where the story for a Gladiator 2 could go. By September 2021, Scott stated that the script was once again being worked on with his intention being to direct the sequel upon the completion of production on his current project, Napoleon. In January 2023, Paul Mescal was in final talks to star in the upcoming sequel, as Lucius. Working from a script written by David Scarpa, Scott will produce the film alongside Michael Pruss, Doug Wick and