Ridley Scott has talked briefly about his busy schedule, saying Gladiator III is ‘in process’ while suggesting that a Battle of Britain movie could be next. It’s always customary in a piece like this to reference director Ridley Scott’s age (he’s 87) and his work ethic. He’s currently finishing a sci-fi adaptation, The Dog Stars, ... Ridley Scott teases Gladiator III and a Battle of Britain movie
Ridley Scott has talked briefly about his busy schedule, saying Gladiator III is ‘in process’ while suggesting that a Battle of Britain movie could be next.
It’s always customary in a piece like this to reference director Ridley Scott’s age (he’s 87) and his work ethic. He’s currently finishing a sci-fi adaptation, The Dog Stars, due out in 2026. But he also has a Bee Gees biopic in the wings, plus numerous other projects.
In a highly entertaining new piece in The Guardian, Scott has also talked glancingly about the films he has lined up. He again mentioned Gladiator III – a sequel he first mentioned on the promotional trail for last year’s Gladiator II – saying that the sword-and-sandal epic is “in process”.
Scott said that his next film, meanwhile, might be another historical piece about the Battle of Britain – a pivotal moment in World War II. This bit of news came up when he was asked about his famous Hovis adverts from the 1970s – a campaign so successful that the ads were played on British television for years.
“I did five Hovis commercials,” Scott said. “They were all classics. The most famous is the boy walking up the hill. The first one I shot up near Halifax, in a mining town. Oddly enough, I might go back up there to do my next movie, which is a war movie [Battle of Britain], so I’m well versed in the area.”
This isn’t the first time Scott has talked about making a film about that air campaign, in which the Royal Air Force successfully defended the UK against a sustained Nazi aerial attack – he first mentioned the project last year. The screenplay for Scott’s film is by Joe Penhall, whose work includes the terrific Netflix series Mindhunter, directed by David Fincher.
What it does suggest, though, is that the Bee Gees biopic, You Should Be Dancing – which was previously said to be shooting this autumn – has been pushed back again, and that the Battle of Britain movie is taking its place.
In the interim, there’s The Dog Stars, based on Peter Heller’s sci-fi novel of the same name and starring Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley and Josh Brolin. A post-apocalyptic piece set in the wake of a deadly pandemic, it was filmed in Italy earlier this year, and is scheduled for release in March 2026.
Unless Scott’s busy schedule changes again, he’s likely to begin work on what could be a hugely expensive and complex war film next. We’ll bring you more as we hear it.
