Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius’s story may have ended with his death at the Colosseum, but a continuation to the Gladiator saga is in the works, with director Ridley Scott confirming that a script for a sequel is currently being written.
The US filmmaker told Empire magazine that the project, which will come as a follow-up to the 2000 Oscar-winning film, will be the next one he takes on after wrapping his Napoleon Bonaparte biopic Kitbag, which is slated to be released in 2023.
“I’m already having [the next] Gladiator written now,” the filmmaker, 83, said. “So when I’ve done Napoleon, Gladiator will be ready to go.”
Plans for a sequel to Gladiator were first announced in 2018. The film is set to take place 25 years after the events of the original, which made more than $450 million in the global box office and won five Oscars, including for Best Picture.
The sequel will follow Lucius, son of Lucilla and the tyrannically-bent emperor Commodus, who in Gladiator were played by Connie Nielsen and Joaquin Phoenix respectively.
In the original film, Lucilla and the young Lucius, portrayed by Spencer Treat Clark, were both rescued from Commodus by Maximus, a role that won Russell Crowe the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Paramount is behind the project and the screenplay is being written by Top Gun: Maverick and The Batman scriptwriter Peter Craig.
Scott will be releasing House of Gucci later this year. The anticipated film, which stars Lady Gaga, Al Pacino and Adam Driver, will follow the divorce of Patrizia and Maurizio Gucci, the head of the Gucci fashion house, which ultimately leads to murder.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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The specs
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- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
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Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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Inter Milan 2 (Vecino 65', Barella 83')
Verona 1 (Verre 19' pen)
Kareem Shaheen on Canada
Jawan
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Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
