Fresh off his villainous role in the upcoming Gladiator 2, Denzel Washington is set to re-enter the ancient world. He will play the Carthaginian general Hannibal in a new Netflix film for director Antoine Fuqua. The as-yet-untitled new film will reportedly focus on Hannibal's campaigns against Rome during the Second Punic Wars, which led to him being considered one of the greatest generals in history.

This will be the latest collaboration for Washington and Fuqua, who have had a fruitful partnership since 2001's Training Day; Washington's turn as brutal LA cop Alonzo Harris netted him his first Best Actor Academy Award. The two have since collaborated on the three Equalizer films and the 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven. The film will be written by a screenwriter with a knack for bringing history to life: John Logan, whose resume includes the scripts for Gladiator, The Aviator, The Last Samurai, and Hugo. Logan is also set to write the script for Fuqua's upcoming Michael Jackson biopic.

Who Was Hannibal?

Hannibal was a general of the Carthaginian people, who ruled an empire in northern Africa in the centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ. As it expanded, the Carthaginian Empire came into conflict with the other great Mediterranean power of the age, the Roman Empire; they clashed in a series of conflicts that came to be known as the Punic Wars. Hannibal was the Carthaginians' greatest general and is considered to be one of the finest military minds of the ancient world. During the Second Punic War, Hannibal invaded Italy, with his forces mounted on a herd of war elephants, and successfully occupied southern Rome for fifteen years. However, the great Roman general Scipio Africanus attacked Carthage, forcing Hannibal to retreat home, where he was defeated. He later allied with the Greek king Antiochus III, who waged his own lengthy war on Rome. Reports of Hannibal's death vary; some say that he died from an infection, while others say he took poison after being betrayed by the Romans. Hannibal's story has been infrequently captured on film; he was played by Victor Mature in an Italian historical epic from 1959 and by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Alexander Siddig in a 2006 miniseries.

The as-yet-untitled Hannibal film is part of Fuqua's Hill District Media's first-look deal with Netflix. Fuqua, Washington, Erik Olsen, and Adam Goldworm will produce the film; Jeremy Lott and Frank Moll will produce.

Fuqua's Hannibal film is in pre-production. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates, check out our interview with the director for The Equalizer 3 below.