Ridley Scott almost went the way of the “Joker” sequel and was toying with bringing a little song and dance to the Colosseum.

Scott told Deadline that the long-gestating “Gladiator II” was set to be a musical sequel in 2014 before he realized that the concept was “bloody silly.” However, that iteration would have had Russell Crowe reprising his role of Maximus, despite the character dying in the 2000 feature. And of course, lest we forget about the more obvious “Joker” parallel with Joaquin Phoenix formerly playing Commodus…

According to Deadline, that 2014 sequel idea involved musician Nick Cave who worked with Crowe to devise a storyline that centered on Crowe’s Maximus “being sent back to Earth by the gods to kill Jesus Christ and his followers because he was stealing their thunder.”

Yet director Scott had his own reservations.

“Nick Cave did a great job of invention and Russell was fully engaged,...