20 Movie Sequels That Took WAY Too Long

16. Gladiator II

Now in total fairness, you can make a compelling argument that Ridley Scott's Best Picture-winning epic Gladiator didn't really need a sequel at all, because it tells a complete story with a suitably closed-off ending.

But the first film's astronomical success led Scott to swiftly consider one anyway, suggesting one focused on the life of Lucilla's (Connie Nielsen) son Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark).

Several Gladiator II scripts were written in the years that followed, including a wild one from Nick Cave where Russell Crowe's Maximus was resurrected as an immortal warrior, but none of them made it to the screen.

Development then stalled for the better part of two decades until Scott finally circled back to the idea of continuing Lucius' story, with Paul Mescal later being cast in the role and the film finally being released in late 2024.

Gladiator II was ultimately a passable but not particularly memorable sequel save for a scenery-devouring Denzel Washington, and while there was likely no scenario that bringing Crowe back would've made sense, a Gladiator sequel would've probably had a little more juice if it came out within a decade of the original's release.

Instead of a height-of-his-powers Ridley Scott at the helm, we got the decidedly less-fussed Scott of today who, bless him, just seems happy to keep making movies at 88 years of age.