More than 22 years after the release of his original film, development on Gladiator 2 is now ramping up, with director Ridley Scott reportedly looking for lead actors. After the first Gladiator, which stars Russell Crowe as Maximus, a soldier-turned-slave who fights to get revenge for the slaying of his family, proved popular, a sequel has struggled to get off the ground. One script for the project apparently featured Maximus being reincarnated as a warrior at different points throughout history, but the film never came to fruition. In late 2021, however, Scott revealed that a new script for Gladiator 2 had been completed and that he planned on directing it.

Now, more than a year after Scott revealed that the Gladiator 2 script is complete, a new report reveals that the director is looking to cast lead actors for the sequel. Other details regarding the project, such as its plot or whether Crowe will return, remain unknown, but the latest report is a promising step toward the film actually entering production. Despite Scott’s apparent enthusiasm for Gladiator 2 and momentum seemingly building, the movie has yet to officially get the green light.