Nearly 16 years after "Gladiator" won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, director Ridley Scott reveals he has ideas for a sequel.

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Russell Crowe starred in the 2000 historical epic as Hispano-Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, who's betrayed and sold into slavery, only to rise through the gladiatorial ranks. Although he dies in the film after defeating Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) in battle, Scott remains keen on the idea of a sequel once again starring Crowe.

But if Crowe's character died in the original, how is another possible?

"I know how to bring him back," Scott told Entertainment Weekly at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. "I was having this talk with the studio — 'but he's dead.' But there is a way of bringing him back. Whether it will happen I don’t know. 'Gladiator' was 2000, so Russell's changed a little bit. He's doing something right now but I’m trying to get him back down here."

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Exactly how the character's return would be executed is unclear. Scott's statement of "bringing him back" is vague. Would Maximus return from the afterlife where his deceased wife and child reside, or does the director have other options in mind?

Scott is promoting his upcoming film "Alien: Covenant," which debuts May 19. In addition to "Gladiator," he has directed numerous hits including "Alien," "Prometheus," "Blade Runner" and "The Martian."