It’s no secret that “Gladiator II” was an expensive production, and despite Scott reiterating that he was actually under budget when shooting wrapped, that $250M budget — confirmed by Deadline, Variety and THR — does stick out like a sore thumb. The film will likely not see big profits just from theatrical earnings, and will have to instead rely on rental and streaming to make all of its money back.
It’s come to the point where it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Scott’s “Gladiator 3” gets quietly shelved. Scott recently mentioned having, so far, written twelve pages for it, but is he going to continue on and try to convince Paramount to greenlight the third part? It sure looks like it.
At a press conference, which took place on Friday afternoon, Scott was asked by a reporter on the status of “Gladiator III,” and whether the film’s current performance might impact the project; Scott seems to believe that “Gladiator III” is actually doing great at the box-office …
Given the performance in the rest of the world we've seen yesterday, there's certainly going to be a Gladiator III
Alright then. I mean, if Scott and Paramount believe there’s a large enough audience willing to follow Paul Mescal’s Lucius on his next adventure, then by all means, go ahead and greenlight the third chapter.
Last week, Puck’s Scott Mendelson reported that “Gladiator II,” which had a $55M opening weekend, would end up grossing less than $450M worldwide. Mendelson believed that the film would have a very hard time breaking even.
Of course, when you take into account all of the profits that the film will rack up on VOD and streaming, then, yes, it will ended up making its money back, but is a third chapter something that would actually interest Paramount? In my honest opinion, I don’t believe it’ll happen.