• The ending of ‘Gladiator II’ pays tribute to Russell Crowe’s character in ‘Gladiator’.

• The new sequel has many parallels to the first film.

• Here’s what you need to know about the film’s ending and why there might be a sequel.

‘Gladiator II’ doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but there may still be room for a sequel.

The new film is competing with “Wicked” for the top spot at the box office this week, after both films premiered in the US on the same day.

Scott, who directed the first two films, told Total Film in October that he had started working on a script. ‘I already have eight pages. I have the beginnings of a really good footprint,” Scott said.

Spoilers for ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Gladiator II’.

‘Gladiator II’ replicates many beats from the first film.

The first film, which premiered in 2000 and won five Oscars, followed Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe), an honorable Roman general whose wife and child are murdered when a new emperor takes power.

After becoming a much-loved gladiator, Maximus takes part in a failed coup to turn Rome into a democracy. When this fails, the Emperor mortally wounds Maximus and challenges him in the Colosseum, where they both die.

As Maximus lies dying, he encourages the people to follow the dream of the ancient emperor, Marcus Aurelius.

Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), Aurelius’ daughter, then gives a rousing speech that Maximus’ death should not be in vain.

Rome is still a mess in “Gladiator II,” set 16 years after the first film.

The sequel replicates many of the beats from the first film, with a few new developments.

Instead of one tyrannical emperor, there are twins: Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn).

But the real twist is that both antagonists are killed by the real villain, Marcinus (Denzel Washington), a power broker who is causing chaos to take over Rome.

Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), the new chief general and Lucilla’s new husband, organizes a coup against the emperors, as Maximus did.

As in the first film, the coup is aborted and Acacius is murdered in the Colosseum.

The main character of the sequel is Lucilla’s son, Lucius (Paul Mescal). After the first film, Lucilla sends her son out of the empire for his own safety, causing him to hate Rome and his mother.

Early in the film, Rome attacks Lucius’ new home. He is captured, becomes a gladiator and learns from his mother that his father was Maximus.

Lucius finally accepts his role as leader when he learns that his mother will be executed for her part in Acacius’ coup. He sends a messenger to Acacius’ militia to storm Rome and leads a group of gladiators to escape their prison and try to rescue Lucilla.

The gladiators overpower the Roman guards, but Marcinus kills Lucilla before leaving the Colosseum to fight Acacius’ militia with his own army. Lucius gives chase and defeats Marcinus before the two armies can attack each other.

Lucius then wins over both armies with an inspiring speech about how he will rebuild Rome, just as father Maximus and grandfather Aurelius would have wanted.

This time the hero will stay alive to ensure that Rome is restored to glory.

At the end there is a small tribute to Maximus’ death scene.

In the sequel’s final scene, Lucius returns to the Colosseum to see where his mother died and to mourn his fallen loved ones.

Calling back to Maximus and Lucius’ favorite ritual, Lucius picks up dirt on the ground, looks up to the sky and asks his father for advice. Then there is a brief shot of a hand touching a wheat field before the film ends.

It’s unclear if the clip was recycled footage from the old film, or if it was reshot.

It’s an ambiguous ending, but suggests that Maximus’ spirit is still there to help Lucius.

Fans of the first film may remember that the wheat fields in the first film symbolized the afterlife. Throughout the film, the audience sees glimpses of this cornfield, and when Maximus dies, we see him walking fully into the field toward his wife and child.

Since Lucius is still alive and apparently the new Emperor of Rome, a third film could explore his attempts to save Rome and the new villains who will rise to stop him.

Mescal told Variety last week at the London premiere of “Gladiator II” that he would be “hugely disappointed” to appear in the next sequel.

Read the original article on Business Insider