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In the years following the release of the first film, many attempts were made to write a sequel
Line of Events
After his house was conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now rule Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must turn to his past to find the strength to restore the glory of Rome to its people.
Musician Nick Cave was brought in to write the version by Russell Crowe and Sir Ridley Scott
His version focused on the more mythical elements of Ancient Rome and was supposed to see Maximus arrive in the afterlife, only to encounter other souls who have yet to ascend higher.
Ultimately, Jupiter and the other Roman deities instruct him to return to earth to find and kill Hephaestus, the former deity who betrayed them
From there he is resurrected as a Christian and finds that he is going back to Rome with a mission to stop the spread of Christianity, crossing paths with the new emperor Lucius.
The studio decided not to continue this version, but the script is available for reading online
The film would end with Maximus being cursed to eternal life, with a montage of a soldier fighting during the Crusades, World War II, and the Vietnam War, eventually showing a modern-day Maximus working at the Pentagon in Washington.
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Featured in The 7PM Project: Episode 3 July 2024 (2024)