Gladiator II is the last great blockbuster 2024. A gigantic project on which two main doubts arise. The first of these is whether its roughly $300 million budget can be profitable at the global box office. The second is already a question of image and career regarding the presence of Ridley Scott behind the cameras. The legendary filmmaker has had several commercial failures over the past five years, although from first impressions it appears that critics are at least on the side of the authorship of the British director. Among other things, because according to what the director of Stranger And blade runnerwith the return to the Colosseum he did not commit a bug replicated several times throughout his career.
In addition to creating some of the most memorable titles in modern cinema, Scott is famous for being one of the filmmakers who has most exploited the director’s cut (director’s cut). A version of his films which does not have the “scissors” applied by large companies to make the tape more accessible to distributors and, in general, to the public. In his case, the starting point came from his own blade runnerwhen ten years after its creation, Scott published an alternative edit which changed the final meaning of the work. In the end, the Phillip K. Dick adaptation grossed up to 6 director’s cuts. But this desire to bring out a vision ended up encompassing a large part of his work. From the kingdom of heaven until recently Napoleon. But then… Will he also end up having Gladiator II A director’s cut after its premiere?
A “Gladiator II” with total control
The question fans have been asking since Ridley Scott himself announced the surprising sequel is whether, like his biopic about the French general, the director would release, after the theatrical release, an extended version with everything that Paramount Pictures would have forced him to cut the commerciality of production. However, this time there will be no director, since the three-time Oscar nominee has guaranteed total control, being the only one who can approve the final cut that will be released in theaters. next November 15.
The Shout Shields one has been on sale for several weeks Gladiator II and of course, this communication campaign will intensify before the title hits theaters in a few days. So, during his recent media interview with the protagonist of Gladiator II, Paul MescalScott has been quite clear with the final review of the material we will be able to see in theaters in the middle of this month.
“I have earned my right to I have my final cut. Anyway, I have it under contract, so the edit that comes out will be my fault,” he began by saying Collider. After them, journalists from the North American site questioned him about his editing method and why he was always so meticulous in the final assembly of his stories:
“I’m going in circles. I don’t suffer for the things I cut from the film. “I don’t ride all the way and then start rolling: God knows that would take too long.” In fact, Scott admitted to editing as he went along and that he thought the method was valid because that’s how he sees how he behaves as a director and “how people act”.
In addition to Mescal, Gladiator II’s return to the epic arena of Rome features Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger in its cast. In the casting, two key actors from the previous film return in the same way; Connie Nielsen like Lucilla and Derek Jacobi in the shoes of Senator Graco.
Ridley Scott’s cinematic future
As is typical of a tireless filmmaker of Ridley Scott’s stature, the 86-year-old director has no plans to stop after Gladiator II. As confirmed a few months ago, the director of American gangster you already have an idea for Gladiator IIIwants to get back behind the cameras with a new Alien film and has in mind film a western. It remains to be seen whether the sequel’s revenue will have enough impact to continue the story of the new protagonist, discovered to be the bastard son of the original hero, Maximus Decimus Meridio. Let us remember this audiovisual narrator, Scott continues business failures of the size of Napoleon either The last duel.
