Ridley Scott remains one of the most iconic film directors in film history, but his $462 million historical epic marked an end to one aspect of his career. Scott started his career in 1977 with the movie The Duelists, but he quickly established his name by directing two iconic films back-to-back: Alien and Blade Runner.

Those two movies became the backbone of his career for years, with Alien becoming a successful franchise and Blade Runner being respected as a sci-fi masterpiece before receiving a sequel decades later. In 2000, Scott achieved huge award success with his historical epic Gladiator, and he directed the sequel 24 years later, a film that ended an era for Scott.

Gladiator 2 Was Likely The End Of Ridley Scott Making Sequels

There Are No More Sequels On The Radar

In 2000, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator was released, marking the biggest film of his career, a mᴀssive blockbuster that also achieved awards success. It grossed $465.5 million and earned 12 Oscar nominations, with five wins, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Russell Crowe). While it took 24 years, Scott directed the sequel, Gladiator II.

This wasn’t Scott’s first sequel, and he has done a few over the later years of his career. Over the first 20 years of Scott’s career, he never directed a sequel and even pᴀssed on the Alien franchise to other directors. His first “sequel” wasn’t even to his own franchise, as he made Hannibal in 2001. However, in 2012, he returned to the Alien franchise.

He directed Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017). He then directed Gladiator II in 2024, and it appears this will be the last sequel Scott makes in his career.

Ridley Scott Moving On From His Franchises Is A Good Thing

Ridley Scott is 87 & Has Only A Few Films Left To Make

Ridley Scott has mentioned the possibility of a Gladiator III, but it seems unlikely that he will direct it. Furthermore, more is coming in the Alien franchise, but it is also without Scott, and he is already finished with the Blade Runner franchise, pᴀssing it on to Denis Villeneuve. A TV show might be in the works, but Scott is not involved.

This is a good thing. Ridley Scott is 87, and he has only a limited number of films left in his career. Fans should want to see Scott doing original material to end his career. He has an upcoming Bee Gees biopic called You Should Be Dancing coming and will also direct an adaptation of the Peter Heller novel The Dog Stars.

While a movie that ends the Gladiator story in the way The Godfather Part III finally ended Michael Corleone’s story is intriguing, it is more exciting to see an original film by Ridley Scott than another sequel.