Nick Cave's cancelled Gladiator sequel

What follows will take you on an entertaining journey if you were among those who felt Ridley Scott had gone too far in Prometheus.

2001, at the Academy Awards. Its depiction of the infamous Roman general Maximus has not only done well at the box office, but also at the Academy Awards. Five of the twelve awards it was nominated for are included in this set, including Best Picture and Best Actor. Now jump ahead a year to when Douglas Wick, the film’s producer, suggests a prequel. He changes his opinion due to an unforeseen circumstance. A sequel is instead in the works.

The notion has Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe very thrilled, but there is a little catch: the epic Gladiator left very few unresolved issues, as any viewer of the film can attest. Maximus met an untimely and tragic end. Then how could the hero’s exploits go on? Even though Scott wanted to advance the timeline and have the living carry on the Latin chronicle, Crowe wasn’t going to let this potential blockbuster pass him by.

Now we jump to a point between 2005 and 2008, when the Brit gets in touch with Nick Cave. This is the Nick Cave of The Bad Seeds fame. The same one who, although having composed several influential soundtracks, had done very little in the realm of cinematic audiovisual creation, penning just the screenplay for the Australian film in which he had a leading role. Cave praises the concept but confronts Crowe with the question: “Hey, didn’t you die in the film?” The response from Crowe is: “yeah, I’ll show you how to fix that.”

For the following months or even years, Cave would play enthusiastically with the concept of a project that had endless potential, like a kid stuck in a candy store. We won’t know whether Hollywood tried to suppress him or not until much later, but he did notice it at some time.

If you ever have any doubts about the veracity of what we are about to tell you, you can read the 103-page script for “Gladiator 2” written by Nick Cave, which has been floating around the internet since 2009. Since our hero is entrusted with that specific plan, Cave has already admitted that Gladiator 2: The Christ Killer is the proper title for the sequel.

Maximus awakens in the afterlife. This is hardly the paradisiacal wheatfield he had imagined. His son and wife, whom we last saw dead and who inspired his wrath in the last chapter, have vanished without a trace. Old Roman deities like Jupiter and Mars are present. They claim Hephaestus deceived them, but why Cave chose the Greek name for Vulcan is a mystery. He is informed that in order for him to reunite with his family, he must go back to Earth and eliminate this new god, backed by Hephaestus—a specific Christ whose doctrine is adhered to by an excessive number of peasants. In 2001, Neil Gaiman published American Gods, a book about deities who see their veneration eroded by the rise of new symbols.

After twenty years of being a monster, Maximus reverts to his human form and finds himself transported to Rome, where his nephew Lucius rules with an iron fist. The plot eventually takes us back to the Coliseum, where naval fights with swarms of crocodiles take place; nonetheless, this element is not particularly significant. The film’s redeeming quality doesn’t come until the very end, when it is revealed that the new Christian deity in question is actually Maximus’ own son. That one we saw lying there, yeah… and the one who was meant to have been crucified while still alive. Does this grant Saint Joseph’s blessing to Maximus? Or perhaps far deeper, into the infinite God? The gladiator has come to terms with the fact that the old gods have used him in the cruelest way possible; everything else is irrelevant at this point. In opposition to both them and the Roman Empire. Maximus finally gives up being called a “Christ-killer.” Now, his objective is entirely different.

The film’s climax transports us to a world of boundless wonder, unabashed spectacle, and metaphysics. Battles fought by Maximus have become battles fought by humanity across the ages. As the years pass, the fighter continues to advance. From the Roman arena to the Crusades, the Great War, the order to start fire on tanks used to shoot down Nazis, and even Vietnam, his sword strokes and rifle rounds have transformed into decisive victories. We stand before the faceless savior of history, as you might expect.

At this time, Maximus is under no obligation to assume command of any battle. From a chilly chamber within the Pentagon, he can direct the aggression. At the film’s conclusion, he finds himself in the War Room, conversing with an apparition of either a national security advisor or the president.

Despite understanding that the story would be associated with a popcorn product doomed to social exclusion, Cave has confessed in subsequent interviews that he thoroughly enjoyed composing it. But the reception was different from his expectations. The actor who had commissioned the script reportedly told the musician, “I don’t like it, man.” “What are your thoughts on that conclusion?” “I don’t like it, man,” Crowe would say curtly in response to Cave’s persistent questions.

However, the concept seemed satisfactory to Scott. The director recounts how they “tried to make [Cave’s script] work,” despite Crowe’s initial reservations. Russell was hesitant to completely scrap it due to how well it served the plot. Well done on that front. It seems like [Cave] had fun with it. “Well, maybe we can adjust this fantasy and bring Maximus back from the dead.” comes to mind in such a case. The rumor mill is full of theories about how the creators of Gladiator used a legal loophole to make sure the series would remain uninterrupted for all time.

But Hollywood, that greedy horde that would sell their mother for a dime, has prevented it from happening. The concept of making Gladiator 2 with the same director at the helm has been an active project for a couple of years, as we just reported on Espinof.

Just like in our beloved singer-songwriter’s literature, Lucius, who is Commodus’ nephew, will be the protagonist. However, there will be no Maximus—at least, not the one played by Crowe, who is too old to wear sandals again—this time around. The Town and two Hunger Games films were written by Peter Craig, who will also pen the script. Regardless of the outcome, we are fully aware that it will not resemble the barbarian Christ-slayer that was foretold.

Nick Cave’s cancelled Gladiator sequel

What follows will take you on an entertaining journey if you were among those who felt Ridley Scott had gone too far in Prometheus.

By b0oua

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