Veteran director Ridley Scott has made many films that are considered classics today. He is the genius behind legendary films such as Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, Alien, and Thelma & Louise. One of his most popular films is the Russell Crowe starring historical drama Gladiator.
While the film was a massive success and helped establish the careers of its leading stars, it was known for its troubled production and run-and-gun filmmaking. The film, which won the Oscar for Best Picture that year, reportedly had an unfinished script before production began. According to Crowe, the 21-page script that they had was also ‘rubbish’.
The Enduring Legacy Of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator
Ever since its release in 2000, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator has been considered to be one of the greatest action and historical fiction films ever made. Ranking many times on multiple top-100 lists, the film has been credited with reviving the ‘swords and sandals’ genre of historical fiction which had reportedly seen a sharp decline from the 60s. It is also credited with renewing interest in the Roman Empire among the general public.
The Ridley Scott directorial earned $503 million at the box office against a $100 million budget. The film was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning five including Best Picture and Best Actor for Russell Crowe. Scott and actor Joaquin Phoenix were also nominated for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor respectively.
The film is known to have revived Ridley Scott’s career and reputation as a critical and commercial draw as he had faced multiple failures since his last big success, Thelma & Louise. The film established Russell Crowe as a leading man, as he had just gained notoriety for LA Confidential. Phoenix too is considered to have begun his upward ascent from this film.
Talking about the legacy of Gladiator, Russell Crowe mentioned in an interview with Vanity Fair,
“I wish that every young actor could have something like ‘Gladiator’ in their career. We made that film in 1999 and I’ll bet you money that somewhere in the world tonight, the film is playing on primetime television. It has the longest legs…and people love it with a passion.”
Ridley Scott is all set to make a sequel of the film starring Paul Mescal, the Academy Award-nominated actor from Aftersun.
Russell Crowe Mentioned That Gladiator Had A Terrible Script
With such an enduring legacy and cultural impact, it is surprising to know that Ridley Scott’s historical epic Gladiator was a production nightmare. With many things unplanned and created on the go, as well as many moving parts such as hundreds of crew members, sets, and actors, the film was known for its extensive problems during filming.
One of the biggest problems of the film during production was the script. While the idea came from writer David Franzoni, who had written the first draft of the screenplay, Scott hired more writers to re-write it and by the time they went to production, the team reportedly only had a 21-page script that was usable.
Russell Crowe spoke about the bizarre circumstances of the shoot,
“At the core of what we were doing was a great concept but the script, it was rubbish, absolute rubbish. And it had all these sorts of strange sequences…I did think a couple of times, ‘Maybe my best option is just to get on a plane and get out of here.’ It was my continued conversations with Ridley [Scott] that sort of gave me faith.”
Crowe mentioned that he was assured by Ridley Scott that they would not shoot anything that was not convincing for the actor. They reportedly finished through their 21 pages in the first section of the film and then caught up later.
