Hes back 25 years afterGladiatorwon five Oscars including Best Picture, but not Best Director.
Scott has never won that elusive prize, but maybe his time has come withGladiator II.
Can you describe how in your mind that is the case?
(L-R) Ridley Scott and Paul Mescal on the set of ‘Gladiator II’Adan Monaghan/Paramount Pictures/Everett Collection
Fundamentally,Blackhawk Down, we went to war.
Thats about as close Ive ever been to actually being in battle.
DEADLINE:How did this one compare, in terms of scale and scope and ambition realized?
Ridley Scott20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Borja B. Hojas / WireImage / Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
SCOTT: A lot of it was seen in rooms, so not too much war.
Funny enough, that had the same size and footprint as Rome.
So I went back, tore down Toulon and built Rome.
Building Rome was a huge undertaking.
What you see in the film when you arrived with Acacius [Pedro Pascal].
That aint blue screen.
We built the whole damn thing.
In this instance, that was the case.
You could only do this with a great production designer like Arthur Max.
Sometimes it required 1500 men.
Arthur and I know each other so well, since beforeBlackhawk.
And I wonder, are there seams in the firstGladiatorthat you see when you watch it back?
SCOTT: Digital work in the firstGladiatorwas really advanced.
Ill give an example.
I just as it were, invested in a digital company at that moment called The Mill.
So theyre going to get the job.
Theyve never done a film before.
Thats your first shot.
Thats digital, then.
And they got the Academy Award for special effects.
DEADLINE:Does that seem like childs play compared to what is possible 25 years later?
SCOTT: Digital effects are tools.
The best tool in the world is your brain.
This is where well find out what the challenges of AI are.
DEADLINE:YourGladiator IIplays off the original in intriguing ways.
Only now, Paul Mescals Lucius is part of the so called barbarian horde.
Also, Lucius gets taken under the wing of the industrialist Macrinus played by Denzel Washington.
Its similar to how Oliver Reed and Russell Crowes relationship unfolded in the first film.
Except there is a major difference in the motives of the mentors.
Therefore it would seem to be a good beginning to touch on, present day politics and terrible actions.
DEADLINE:You create these worlds, in ancient period on earth and in futuristic space.
SCOTT: That is never unfortunately that straightforward.
Some directions are more part of the authorship of the movie than others.
I come into this blow by blow.
I storyboard everything, still.
They become a song sheet on a daily basis of what were doing.
I regard myself pretty well as a pretty strong author alongside the writer, in where were going.
DEADLINE:It sounds like all that doodling you did in art school has paid off.
Im doodling right now as we speak.
SCOTT: I have to go back down the alleyway to explain.Alienwas my second film.
So Im no f*cking kid and Im not an idiot by that moment.
But Ive learned to tolerate such arrogance and from that, I knew what to do.
But I figured I was now over the gate and into the field, right?
And so now Im on a new universe for myself and my future, at 40.
To sidetrack a moment, my sport was always tennis and I became reasonably good.
I watched a documentary on the retirement of Roger Federer.
Its three parts, just fantastic.
Federer begins, and in his soft English said, I know Im going to cry.
He is about to have his last matches, with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Im sure Rogers got it all planned out.
Hes a very smart man.
But theres one thing youll always miss.
You miss Nadal, across that net.
His film was so different than yours, more like a rollercoaster ride…
SCOTT: Yes.
But it works, still.
He said, Im going to go military.
Thats what Jim said.
I said, gotcha.
Jims was a very good sequel.
Three and four became more and more difficult.
As it unrolled, I thought, oh God, theyre f*cking it up.
And then from that, honestly, I said okay, thats done.
Theres life in the best, yet.
But we were asleep at the wheel.
My advisors, who frankly no longer are with me, were asleep at the wheel, certainly.
And I partly blame myself, except I was busy making other films.
And so it was let go and it shouldnt have been.
When you resurrect, you better put your nail into the wall.
The same thing happened onBlade Runner, which is my third movie.
They said to me, to make this firm, its going to cost us $21 million.
F*ck em, lets make the movie.
I was a very, very good designer, so I could talk to designers.
I looked at these industrial illustrations by this great guy Syd Mead.
I brought him in to help the production design ofBlade Runner.This is authorship, dude.
And they took everything.
So Ive never had a piece of Blader at all.
Thats going in the book.
And by the way, they know who the fuck they are.
DEADLINE:There were numerous attempts to resurrectGladiatorover a quarter century.
What was the appeal?
SCOTT: To me?
I was going along with the boys.
I didnt really believe in it.
It got too rich and started to go to time warps, which frankly I thought was bloody silly.
It would have to come from the dying soul of a dying soldier in a battlefield.
DEADLINE:That is cool.
SCOTT: So thats mine.
So thats why I kept that as a little silver bullet thinking, Ill use that again somewhere.
And I saw her as a housewife and then shes got a bow.
Movies can do things like brilliantly, show change.
So shes a wife, but shes a soldier and an archer and a Markswoman.
DEADLINE:So you salvaged something out of that exercise.
You wonder how far you could stray from a movie that is beloved.
Audiences roundly rejected the sequel to the billion-dollarJoker, the second one staged as a musical.
If youd gone in the Jesus Christ direction, could that have worked for audiences who loved the firstGladiator?
I think the gravy was too rich.
But by the way, Nick Cave did a great job of invention and Russell was fully engaged.
I think were getting too far off the mark.
If you do that, thats where you might lose it.
DEADLINE:What did you do better here than when you made the firstGladiator?
SCOTT: Id already started using 11 cameras in the arena.
But I cant do a shot of the audience.
A shot of Max is walking out, and a shot of the emperor, separately.
Id still be shooting it.
So I started to position them round and in one take, get the whole entrance in one shot.
Its knowing where to put it and how they will go together, as the Lego kit of editing.
DEADLINE:So you refined techniques from the original.
How much more efficient did that make the shooting of a difficult film?
SCOTT: I could do it in two or three takes.
Each scene is a play and everyones on.
And I may be shooting that way away from you.
Ill be shooting that way.
Im shooting across you.
Im shooting the emperors.
Im shooting Paul coming in on a stadium the size of the real Colosseum.
What, if any, was your dialogue like with him as you put togetherGladiator II?
I dont think so.
Everyones bringing their own, as it were, thoughts and creative elements to the next evolution.
You get into too much conversation and it gets very convoluted.
I give a shot to avoid convolution.
Very inventive, quite brilliant at being the hero to the bad boy.
But this is a new universe.
Got to move on.
By the way, Russell and Chris Hemsworth, about Russell being the father to Lucius.
Whilst it might have seemed fun, it was not good.
Its online, still.
Listen, whats the expression?
Its all fun in love and war.
Except theres a lot of blood on the side and you dont want it to go there.
They were speculating, but they didnt happen to talk to me.
This isnt really a complaint or a whine.
DEADLINE:Twitter, now its called X…
SCOTT: Yeah, I dont do that.
I dont even know what it is.
Im not on it.
DEADLINE:A broad question.
Youre at an age where most slow down.
What is the appeal instead of growing more and more ambitious at 87?
What keeps you come back for more and more?
SCOTT:I feel alive.
I feel Im getting into a Formula One car and driving away.
And I like being in the Formula One car.
Im doing recon in Italy for my next film, which will happen April 1.
Im hoping to return to that by the end of next year.
That was a time warp, odd but actually wonderful.The Dog Starsis the best script Ive read sinceThe Martian.
What magic did you find in the moment with the actors onGladiator II?
SCOTT: I think there are two phrases which are great.
One is Marcus Aurelius, which is what you do in life echoes in eternity.
To me, Marcus Aurelius started his philosophical ruminations, writing poetry, probably from a sense of guilt.
He hopes it wont echo in eternity, but it will, its always there.
The other is the line Strength and Honor.
Two lines that are beautiful.
Connie Nielsens Lucilla says to Paul, who is in his cell.
She knows she is close to the end, and murmurs strength and honor.
Paul just picks that moment up spectacularly and answers as if almost in, dare I say, surprise.
Thats one of the most emotional moments in the film.
And that was something that just sort of happened in the moment, something that two actors did beautifully.
The line itself can either be nothing or something.
Its called great acting.
What did you see that sparked the idea maybe you found your gladiator?
SCOTT:It sounds easy, but casting is not.
And Ive got the best casting director in Kate Rhodes James.
There is a lot of stuff especially now that is very expensive and kind of doesnt really work.
Its not very good and so I cant watch it.
I find myself watching more and more very low budget indie movies, because thats where the freshness lies.
Thats where the new guys and gals are coming from.
New ideas are there.
Not my kind of thing that Im going to get engaged with, but you never know.
So I did open up the door and immediately engage with the two youngsters.
I binged eight hours of it.
At the end of it, I thought, you know what?
The face is not dissimilar to Richard Harris.
The nose certainly is.
Youve got a Roman nose.
And I thought, this is it.
So from that, I just told the studio, this is the one.
There were other suggestions.
I said, no.
A lot of people hadnt seen normal people.
So then they watch it and go, yeah, right there.
When Im going to cast somebody, I dont sit in a room and say, read this scene.
DEADLINE:Not helpful?
SCOTT: I gave that shit up years ago.
What I do is look at everything theyve done.
How do we go from here?
DEADLINE:Key to an actor playing a gladiator is to be able to handle the physicality.
Im surprised you found Russell Crowe fromThe Insider.
I would have thought the discovery would have come from Curtin HansonsL.A.
His focused rage and power made you go, who the heck is this guy?
DidLA Confidentialmake a big impression on you?
SCOTT: Ive never seen it.
DEADLINE: It will confirm your good judgment.
He played a tough police detective with a tortured past named Bud White who became this symbol of masculinity.
SCOTT: Ill take a look.
I think thats how Michael cast him, off that film.
Michael and I are friends for years and we talk occasionally.
Ill say, whered you get this?
Whered you get that?
DEADLINE: Me too.
Paul has a different kind of energy.
Paul Mescals Lucius is much less fully formed, but he is big and strapping.
What were some qualities he had that convinced you?
SCOTT: The Irish football background helped.
I dont think he was pro, but nearly pro, and all that physicality.
If you come in with half the physicality, you’re free to learn.
Putting on muscle weight is a matter of good diet, lots of exercise.
And having a big guy standing over you saying, where were you?
Youre five minutes late.
So the trainer helps you put on almost 15 pounds of muscle, and your whole demeanor changes.
But Russell naturally is bit of a boiling kettle, or one that is on the edge of boil.
Paul is a different creature coming from a different direction, but the kettle will boil over when needed.
And he knows where to go, because I think his first love is theater.
Hell doA Streetcar Named Desire.
I really respect that the boards are his thing.
DEADLINE:You previously worked with Denzel onAmerican Gangsterwhere he played Frank Lucas.
He had volatile moments of rage and violence, but a lot of depth underneath.
Macrinus is quite a different guy.
What made him right for this and how did you sell him on it?
SCOTT: Because Im f*cking good at casting, dude.
Remember Brad Pitt inThelma & Louise?Im pretty good.
Denzel didnt show it at the time, but I think he really enjoyed doingAmerican Gangster.
I think the film was terrific, one of my better movies, right up there.
He says, speak to me, tell me about this guy.
I showed him a painting.
I think by Sir Lawrence Alima-Tadema.
There was this painting which I think defines the Macrinus.
This guy is standing there with these huge forearms.
Denzel asks, whats he do?
I said, well, hes a billionaire.
Oh, okay, send me the script.
Whoever said a picture is worth a thousand words, they were right.
All your stars told touching personal stories that inspired their work.
The more you talk the better because what comes from that is the most divine intuition.
Intuition is a very powerful element, and I have recognized my intuition as being pretty strong and reliable.
Years ago, it made me successful in advertising.
And by the time I started in movies, I was already very intuitive and listening to that voice.
And everyone has the voice.
A lot of people dont listen to it, but its in their imagination.
And if your voice is tied to your imagination, then you are lucky.
And I guess Im born lucky.
I learned to combine the two, and I try and keep my explanations quite simple.
Ill show them pictures of what I want.
Its worth a thousand words.
DEADLINE:So you help point them in a direction and let them go?
SCOTT: Point?.
No, no, no, not always.
SCOTT: Thats his style, thats what he does.
But he scares the shit out of you because its the first day.
And if they have a problem, you listen.
You become really a psychologist father figure.
And sometimes what you dont say is better than saying too much.
He fears he doesnt belong as the leader of a nation.
Didnt the actors fragility help him find the tone for that tragic figure?
SCOTT: Well, it did.
Him doing Napoleon that way was unbelievable.
Hes Napoleon, he looks like Napoleon.
Lets take the last shot.
How did you make it look so terrifying?
SCOTT: Baboons are carnivores, and would have killed them all.
A baboon, youll lose your arm and your head.
Can you hang from a beam by one arm for two hours?
No, they can.
One idiot goes across to a big baboon and tries to pat it.
This thing attacked him, and hes a big man.
I have to have them fighting something which is formidable.
So I cast 12 very small stuntmen.
Some of them are not children, but tough teens, quite tiny.
And I put them all in black tights and for fun, I painted whiskers on them.
And we went to war with stunt men.
So it becomes a stunt men brawl of savagery.
So then I had all the physicality recorded of the actors.
You then put on the flesh and the hair.
Thats how you do it.
That is a masterwork of digital work right there.
You change nothing into a furry baboon.
DEADLINE:Does everyone appreciate what youve shot?
Some idiot says to me, Ive never seen a baboon like that before.
I said, well, the baboon has alopecia, where you lose all your fucking hair.
I copied that from the baboon I saw in the car park, which had alopecia.
I thought, who is that?
And it was this everything sinew tendon with no fat, like muscular steel.
I said, thats my monster.
I said, Paul, you know what would be cool?
Turn the tables on the baboon.
If you bite the baboon, the baboon will be psychologically in shock.
DEADLINE:Did you restrict yourself to things that actually happened in the Roman gladiatorial arenas?
SCOTT: For sure.
They flooded the Colosseum for naval battles.
I think what the did was put in big moray eels which can bite you hard.
Whether they had a shark, I dont know.
But I thought, lets go for the sharks.
SCOTT: I did want to do the rhino on the first film.
I hadnt thought about the baboons until I saw the car park.
I knew the boats existed but the firstGladiatorhad to be done on a budget so we withdrew.
The brutality in the arena is still the same.
And the death by sword or by animal is still there.
Christian families would be devoured by lions and people were enjoying it.
Nothing is worse than that.
Death is death, a sword is a sword.
A 2000-pound bomb is even worse.
So youve got to take all that into account.
We are fortunately slightly veiled by the silk of movie land.
So in a way were watching it through a veiled curtain.
But when Im doing it, I am reminding myself, this happened.
They would have a fight to the death on a Saturday afternoon in the living room of some senator.
And they all clap and say bravo.
SCOTT: Ive already got … an intuitive aberration came to me about a month ago.
I thought, why not?
I have a really very logically positioned very good idea.
And we will not go back to the arena.
DEADLINE:You were shootingGladiator IIwhen SAG-AFTRA struck and shooting stopped for half a year.
What was the biggest challenge in losing the momentum you had built?
SCOTT: Nothing, really.
I made four films through the pandemic.
I madeThe Last Duel, Gucci, Napoleon, and then started this one and the strike stopped it.
I edited what I had, prepared the next movie, and then resumed.
I never sit around.
I was thinking about the movie Im going to do next.
The union cannot stop me from thinking.
Hollywood is now embracing AI as the next thing.
SCOTT: Well, AI is a tool, remember that.
But AI can be also a terrible abuser of normal stuff, even good stuff.
That would include Jim Cameron.
And therefore, we always hope the very best will evolve and use AI as a tool.
You start off with a dawn of man, you see apes fighting over sustenance in a waterhole.
You see anteaters, and the occasional leopard that eats the ape.
The apes live on insects and pieces of wood.
And need that boost and help forward.
Thats a weapon, that is a million year quantum leap forward.
Its a grand superlative idea.
Is it what we call God?
I cant think of anything else.
They are studying the human race.
Hal is a f*cking computer.
Because Hal knows that the expedition is more important than these human beings, and thats Hals error.
Hopefully, AI will always make an error.
Thats a massive idea.
SCOTT: Never say never.
