‘Gladiator 2’ on Netflix: Will There Be a ‘Gladiator 3’ Movie?

By Anna Menta

Gladiator II—Ridley Scott’s 24-years-later sequel to his popular action flick Gladiator—is finding new life on Netflix, two years after the film failed to make a spectacle at the box office. Less than one week after the sequel (as well as the original) was added to Netflix, Gladiator II shot the top of streamer’s trending titles list, where it’s been hovering around the No. 1 and No. 2 slot. Now that people are finally watching the sequel, they are no doubt wondering: Will there be a Gladiator 3 movie?

Directed once again by Scott, this sequel brings a new cast of characters to the world of ancient Roman combat sport. Paul Mescal stars as Lucius Verus, the now-grown nephew of Roman emperor Commodus (played by Joaquin Phoenix in the original movie). Pedro Pascal stars as General Marcus Acacius, while Denzel Washington stars as Macrinus, who mentors Mescal’s character in the ways of being a gladiator. Gladiator II was not exactly a box office flop, but it wasn’t exactly a hit, either.

What was the Gladiator 2 box office?

Gladiator II earned $460.3 million worldwide, nearly doubling its $250 million production budget. Tha’ts much better, certainly, than Scott’s most recent film, The Dog Stars, which failed to earn back even have of its production budget. But it was not that hit that Scott clearly hoped for, and failed to crack the top 10 of the highest-grossing movies of 2024. (Rumors swirled that Scott blamed star Paul Mescal for not being “masculine enough” for the box office disappointment, which Scott’s representatives denied.)

But now that movie is finding a new audience on streaming, where does that leave things for a possible Gladiator 3 movie?

Will there be a Gladiator 3 movie?

Right now, there is no official confirmation that a Gladiator 3 movie is happening, but Ridley Scott has said he is working on the script. In 2024, Scott told The Hollywood Reporter, “I’d rather get on into Gladiator III,” when asked about a different potential next project. “There’s already an idea.” He added that the third Gladiator would be inspired by The Godfather Part II.

Last year, in response to a user-submitted question to The Guardian if there would be a Gladiator 3, Scott replied that “Gladiator is in process right now.”

That said, Scott is 88 years old, and the last update we heard from him on Gladiator 3 was in August 2025.

More recently, Gladiator II star Paul Mescal hinted that he wasn’t interested in doing another big-scale movie like another Gladiator. “I loved the process of making that film but The History of Sound felt like home to me,” Mescal told The Guardian. “It’s where I’m most comfortable. I want to make more films like that versus ones on the scale of Gladiator II.”

He added that he didn’t want to do any more projects after Hamnet, until he was back doing press for the upcoming Beatles biopic from Sam Mendes. “Once I’ve finished promoting that, I hope nobody gets to see me until 2028 when I’m doing the Beatles. People will get a break from me and I’ll get a break from them.”

So, right now, it doesn’t sound like Mescal is very interested in a Gladiator III movie.

When is the Gladiator 3 release date?

There is no Gladiator 3 release date right now, because we don’t even know if the the movie is happening. As of now, there is no production schedule set for Gladiator 3.

But even if Gladiator 3 went into production as early as next year, the second movie took over a year to come out after going into production. So, the absolute earliest you could expect to see Gladiator 3—if it even happens—would be 2028.

All in all, right now it’s not looking great for Gladiator 3 movie. But hey, now that the second one is doing well on Netflix, maybe Netflix will foot the bill for Gladiator 3. We’ll have to wait and see.