Gladiator II director Ridley Scott and lead star Paul Mescal have reportedly already agreed to work together on a new project.

As the pair tour the world promoting the much-anticipated sequel, pre-production has begun on Scott's next major project, The Dog Stars.

Based on the 2012 novel by Peter Heller, the film is set shortly after the world has been ravaged by a pandemic and follows two men - one a civilian pilot, the other ex-military - as they live in an abandoned air hanger and ponder what may be waiting outside of their tightly-guarded existence.

Filming of the movie is expected to begin in Italy in the spring once Mescal is finished with the Broadway run of A Streetcar Named Desire, which is currently scheduled to wrap on April 6, 2025.

Meanwhile filming on Scott's other planned project for next year, a Bee Gees biopic, has been delayed until towards the end of 2025.