Ridley Scott Says He Has Started Working On ‘Gladiator 3’: “I’ve Already Got 8 Pages”

Ridley Scott‘s Gladiator II is set to be released 24 years after the original film hit theaters, but fans of the saga might not have to wait long for its third installment.

The filmmaker has revealed he’s already begun working on the script for the potential Gladiator III.

“I’ve already got eight pages. I’ve got the beginning of a very good footprint,” Scott told Total Film.

Scott also teased, “If there’s a Gladiator 3, I don’t think you’d ever go back into the arena. But I had to go back into the arena…”

This is not the first time the Oscar-nominated director has hinted at the possibility of a third installment of the Gladiator saga. While speaking to French magazine Premiere, Scott said he was “toying with the idea of Gladiator 3.”

“No, seriously! I’ve lit the fuse…” he told the publication. “The ending of Gladiator II is reminiscent of The Godfather, with Michael Corleone finding himself with a job he didn’t want, and wondering, ‘Now, Father, what do I do?’ So the next [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is.”

The Gladiator sequel is set years after the original film and has Mescal taking over the role of Lucius that Spencer Treat Clark portrayed in the 2000 movie. In the follow-up, Mescal plays the role of Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).

Gladiator II is set to premiere on November 22 in the U.S., and it stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington, among others.