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| Gladiator | |
|---|---|
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ridley Scott |
| Produced by | Douglas WickDavid FranzoniBranko Lustig |
| Screenplay by | David FranzoniJohn LoganWilliam Nicholson |
| Story by | David Franzoni |
| Starring | Russell CroweJoaquin PhoenixConnie NielsenOliver ReedDerek JacobiDjimon HounsouRichard Harris |
| Music by | Hans ZimmerLisa Gerrard |
| Cinematography | John Mathieson |
| Edited by | Pietro Scalia |
| Production companies | Scott Free ProductionsRed Wagon Entertainment |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks Pictures (United States)Universal Pictures (International) |
| Release date | May 1, 2000 (Los Angeles)May 5, 2000 (United States)May 12, 2000 (United Kingdom) |
| Running time | 155 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $103 million |
| Box office | $460.5 million |
Gladiator is a 2000 epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson. The film was jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Universal Pictures. It stars Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed (in his final role), Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel, and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays Hispano-Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, murders his father and seizes the throne. Reduced to slavery, Maximus rises through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the murders of his family and his emperor.
Gladiator | Behind the Scenes PART 1
Inspired by Daniel P. Mannix‘s 1958 novel Those About to Die, the film’s script, initially written by Franzoni, was acquired by DreamWorks and Ridley Scott signed on to direct the film. Principal photography began in January 1999, before the script was completed, and wrapped up in May of that year, with the scenes of Ancient Rome shot over a period of nineteen weeks in Fort Ricasoli, Malta. The film’s computer-generated imagery effects were created by British post-production company The Mill, who also created a digital body double for the remaining scenes involving of Reed’s character Proximo due to Reed dying of a heart attack during production.
Gladiator | Behind the Scenes PART 2
Gladiator premiered in Los Angeles on May 1, 2000, and was released theatrically in Australia on May 4, the United States on May 5 and in the United Kingdom on May 11. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the acting (particularly Crowe’s and Phoenix’s performances), Scott’s direction, visuals, screenplay, action sequences, musical score and the production values. It was a box office success, grossing $187.7 million in the United States and $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. The film won multiple awards, including five at the 73rd Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor for Crowe, Best Costume Design, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. It also received four BAFTA Awards at the 54th British Academy Film Awards for Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and Best Editing. Since its release, Gladiator has also been credited with reinventing the sword-and-sandal genre and rekindling interest in entertainment centered around the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, such as the television series Rome.
In 2021, Scott officially announced that writing had begun on a sequel to the film, which would formally enter development after the completion of his Napoleon biopic.
Pollice Verso (Thumbs Down) by Jean-Léon Gérôme, the 19th-century painting that inspired Ridley Scott to tackle the project.
Ridley Scott was approached by producers Walter F. Parkes and Douglas Wick. They showed him a copy of Jean-Léon Gérôme‘s 1872 painting entitled Pollice Verso (Thumbs Down). Scott was enticed by filming the world of Ancient Rome. However, Scott felt Franzoni’s dialogue was too “on the nose” (lacking subtlety) and hired John Logan to rewrite the script to his liking. Logan rewrote much of the first act and made the decision to kill off Maximus’s family to increase the character’s motivation.
Russell Crowe describes being eager for the role as pitched by Walter F. Parkes, in his interview for Inside the Actors Studio: “They said, ‘It’s a 100-million-dollar film. You’re being directed by Ridley Scott. You play a Roman General.’ I’ve always been a big fan of Ridley’s.”
Gladiator | Behind the Scenes PART 3
In preparation for filming, Scott spent several months developing storyboards to develop the framework of the plot. Over six weeks, production members scouted various locations within the extent of the Roman Empire before its collapse, including Italy, France, North Africa, and England. All of the film’s props, sets, and costumes were manufactured by crew members due to high costs and unavailability of the items. One hundred suits of steel armour and 550 suits in polyurethane were made by Rod Vass and his company Armordillo. The unique sprayed-polyurethane system was developed by Armordillo and pioneered for this production. Over a three-month period, 27,500 component pieces of armor were made.
Gladiator | Behind the Scenes PART 4
The film was shot in three main locations between January and May 1999. The opening battle scenes in the forests of Germania were shot in three weeks in the Bourne Woods, near Farnham, Surrey, in England. When Scott learned that the Forestry Commission planned to remove a section of the forest, he persuaded them to allow the battle scene to be shot there and burn it down. Scott and cinematographer John Mathieson used multiple cameras filming at various frame rates and a 45-degree shutter, creating stop motion effects in the action sequences, similar to techniques used for the battle sequences of Saving Private Ryan (1998). Subsequently, the scenes of slavery, desert travel, and gladiatorial training school were shot in Ouarzazate, Morocco, just south of the Atlas Mountains over a further three weeks. To construct the arena where Maximus has his first fights, the crew used basic materials and local building techniques to manufacture the 30,000-seat mud brick arena. Finally, the scenes of Ancient Rome were shot over a period of nineteen weeks in Fort Ricasoli, Malta.
Several scenes included extensive use of computer-generated imagery shots for views of Rome.
British post-production company The Mill was responsible for much of the computer-generated imagery effects that were added after filming. The company was responsible for such tricks as compositing real tigers filmed on bluescreen into the fight sequences, and adding smoke trails and extending the flight paths of the opening scene’s salvo of flaming arrows to get around regulations on how far they could be shot during filming. They also used 2,000 live actors to create a computer-generated crowd of 35,000 virtual actors that had to look believable and react to fight scenes. The Mill accomplished this by shooting live actors at different angles giving various performances, and then mapping them onto cards, with motion-capture tools used to track their movements for three-dimensional compositing. The Mill created over 90 visual effects shots, comprising approximately nine minutes of the film’s running time.
The Numidian king Juba. The Numidians were of Berber origin, instead of sub-Saharan origin.
The Story Behind Gladiator | Gladiator | Screen Bites
Gladiator grossed $187.7 million in the United States and Canada and $269.9 million in other territories for a total of $457.6 million, against a production budget of $103 million.
- 73rd Academy Awards
- BAFTA Awards
- Best Cinematography
- Best Editing
- Best Film
- Best Production Design
- 58th Golden Globe Awards
- Best Motion Picture – Drama
- Best Original Score – Motion Picture
- American Film Institute Lists
- AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Heroes and Villains:
- General Maximus Decimus Meridius – #50 Hero
- AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Movie Quotes:
- “Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.” – Nominated
- AFI’s 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated
- AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Cheers – Nominated
- AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated
- AFI’s 10 Top 10 – Nominated Epic Film
- AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Heroes and Villains:
Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard – Now we are Free
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