Ridley Scott has hinted that a third Gladiator movie could be on the horizon.
The British filmmaker has said that there is "already an idea" for a third instalment of the franchise, inspired by the sequel to The Godfather, from Francis Ford Coppola.
The original Gladiator which was released in 2000, was a box office smash, winning five Oscars, including an award for Best Actor for Russell Crowe for his role as Maximus.
Gladiator II will star Irish actor Paul Mescal star as Lucius, Maximus' son. The film is set 15 years after his father's death. This is also the first time that Mescal will be the central star of a movie.
Gladiator II had its premiere at Dublin's Lighthouse cinema on Thursday (November 15).
In a recent interview, Scott hinted that a third instalment of the franchise could be in the way in the future.
Referring to the Godfather's Corleone crime family, Scott added: "I’ve always had this idea based on The Godfather Part II".
He continued: "Gladiator II definitely signals it could be quite a large success. It’s almost got everything you need for that".
Scott also insisted that he has no plans to retire anytime soon.
"Since (the original) Gladiator, I think I’ve done 16 movies - which is kind of a lot in 20 years," he said. "I always envied being an actor and you can do two or three movies a year. They don’t have to do any prep except learn their lines".
Elsewhere, Ridley Scott also revealed that he was asked to direct Top Gun: Maverick, after his late brother Tony had directed the original 1986 film. Tony Scott died in LA in August 2012.
"They asked me to (direct) it and I said 'I don’t want to follow my brother’," he said. "Tony was always interested in today. A lot of my stuff is either historic, fantasy or science fiction".
"Tony didn’t like fantasy - things like Alien or Blade Runner or Legend."
In tribute to Tony, Ridley Scott added "I miss my brother".
