Gladiator was supposed to have a sequel!
Originally supposed to be a prequel, writers quickly rewrote the story to make it a sequel. The story was to take place fifteen years after Gladiator ended and would encompass Russell Crowe’s character, Maximus, being resurrected from the dead. Because Romans believed so heavily in reincarnation the idea was at first thought to be feasible, but as producers thought about fiscal success they believed the idea to be just too weird.
The storyline would have contained Maximus’ reincarnation by the gods, his transportation back to Rome to defend Christians in the Coliseum, and after that was done he was to be transported to different periods of history such as World War II, the Vietnam War, and even the modern day Pentagon! What do you think, would you have seen a Gladiator 2 if this was the plot?
