The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub speaks with Ridley Scott and Paul Mescal for
Gladiator II
.

Gladiator II
stars Paul Mescal as Lucius, who fights in the Colosseum for justice, revenge, and Rome’s honor.
During this interview, Scott and Mescal discuss an extended cut, Stanley Kubrick’s most “genius” film, challenging scenes, and more.

Over 20 years after Ridley Scott’s epic Oscar-winning drama Gladiator, the director is taking audiences back to the blood and sand with the highly anticipated sequel, Gladiator II. Once again, Ridley’s Ancient Rome is teeming with talent, with (rapidly) rising star Paul Mescal headlining as the follow-up’s titular protagonist.

In the film, Mescal plays Lucius, a man not at all unlike Russell Crowe’s Maximus in the 2000 film, whose life is upended when he’s forced into slavery by the Roman army led by General Marcus Aracius (Pedro Pascal). Seeking vengeance and determined to fight for the honor and salvation of a crumbling Rome, Lucius embodies the fighting spirit of Maximus in the Colosseum to ignite a revolution. Gladiator II also stars Connie Nielsen, who reprises her role as Lucilla, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, and Fred Hechinger.

During this interview, Collider’s Steve Weintraub sits down with legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott and the film’s lead, Mescal, to discuss tough scenes, extended cuts, and more. The legacy of Scott’s first feature brought the violence and pageantry of the Colosseum to life, but from the trailer alone, we see he’s upping the stakes with rhinos, two sniveling emperors, and filling the arena with shark-infested waters. Check out the full conversation below for Scott’s hot take on that feat, as well as his thoughts on a Gladiator II director’s cut and another legendary director, Stanley Kubrick.

Ridley Scott Calls This Kubrick Film “An Act of Genius”
Image by Zanda Rice

COLLIDER: First of all, let me just start by saying congratulations. You did a phenomenal job, and this movie is fantastic. I like throwing a curveball at the beginning of every interview, and today, I wore my Kubrick shirt so I could ask you both, do you have a favorite Kubrick movie?

RIDLEY SCOTT: I think Kubrick did a film that predetermines everything by 50 years with AI. He did 2001 [A Space Odyssey]. 2001 is an act of genius because it warns us what happens if we allow AI into our universe. It will take over, and all it has to do is switch [cellphones] off, and you’ve got chaos. It could switch that off for fun. If I’m gonna design an AI, I’m gonna say, “Okay, the first job for you is I want you to design another AI smarter than you are.” By the time you’re done with that, we’re in deep shit.

PAUL MESCAL: I have to second that. It’s my favorite of his films.

It’s almost like we’ve seen something by James Cameron called The Terminator . So many movies have shown us what can happen and yet humanity is like, “No, but we can control it.”

MESCAL: Exactly.

This Is Why There Isn’t an Extended Cut of ‘Gladiator 2’

Jumping into why I get to talk to you guys. Ridley, first of all, this is a great movie. I wanna say that one more time. You’ve done a lot of extended and directors’ cuts on your previous movies. With Gladiator II , do you have a longer cut?

SCOTT: No, I’ve earned the right to have my final cut. I have the final cut anyway, so my cut that goes out usually is my fault. It is my cut. I’ll go around in circles. I won’t agonize because I cut during the film. I don’t get to the end and then start the cut — God knows that would take too long. I cut as I’m going, and I think it’s a valid to cut as you’re going because you need to see how you’re doing and how everyone’s performing.

Awesome. I was going to say if there was a longer cut, I’d want to see it. Just throwing that out there.

MESCAL: You and me both.

Related Ridley Scott Gives a Colosseum-Sized Update on ‘Gladiator 3’ Be prepared to be entertained.

You have to do so much in this movie, and you’re in so many scenes. Which shot or sequence ended up being the toughest for you to pull off and why?

MESCAL: Scenes with Connie [Nielsen] in the cell are, I think, the most important fundamentally to the soul of the film, and the scenes with Denzel [Washington] at the tail end of the film. You can have all the action sequences in the world, but if you don’t have an audience understanding where these characters are at that junction, there’s no film — I don’t think so. Those are the most challenging. There are pretty creative, robust conversations around that, which I’m really proud of.

Sharks In the Colosseum? That’s Nothing
Image via Paramount Pictures

One of the things that I love is there’s a sequence in the film with sharks in the water in the Colosseum. Obviously, the sharks were not there in real life, but it’s fucking cool. Talk a little bit about putting sharks in the movie and that balance of reality versus it’s a movie.

SCOTT: You’re dead wrong. The Colosseum did flood with water, and there were sea battles.

Did they have sharks back then?

SCOTT: Dude, if you can build a Colosseum, you can flood it with fucking water. Are you joking? And to get a couple of sharks in a net from the sea, are you kidding? Of course they can.

MESCAL: There ya go.

Image via Paramount Pictures

I honestly never thought there were sharks back in the Colosseum, but I am not Ridley and I have no idea.

SCOTT: They were quite small. They were only about six or seven feet.

MESCAL: Only small sharks — six or seven feet.

SCOTT: [Laughs] When you can do what they could do. We don’t make concrete as well as the Romans.

MESCAL: That’s crazy.

SCOTT: They can’t work out what that mix was. The Romans discovered how to make iron even harder. They were technologically superior.

Gladiator II hits theaters in the US on November 22.

After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.Cast Paul Mescal , Pedro Pascal , Denzel Washington , Connie Nielsen , Joseph Quinn , Fred Hechinger , Derek Jacobi , May Calamawy , Peter Mensah , Matt Lucas , Alexander Karim , Tim McInnerny , Lee Charles , Chidi Ajufo , Alfie Tempest , Riana Duce , Chi Lewis Parry , Paul Candelent , Hadrian Howard , Alexander Simkin , Mikhail Basmadjian , Matthew Charlery-Smith , Maxime Durand , Lior Raz Writers David Scarpa , Peter Craig , David Franzoni Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures Expand

Get Tickets