Ridley Scott has never been afraid to go big. He’s delivered thunderous sword-clashing skirmishes in Gladiator, Kingdom Of Heaven and Robin Hood. His previous film, Napoleon – released just days before Scott’s 86th birthday – featured no fewer than six battle sequences in its depiction of the French Emperor’s reign. So you best believe that, on his return to the Colosseum with Gladiator II – arriving over 20 years after the first instalment made audiences around the world think daily of the Roman Empire – Scott is ready to go big. Bigger, in fact, than ever before.
“We begin the film with probably the biggest action sequence I’ve ever done,” the legendary director teases, speaking to Empire in the Joker: Folie À Deux issue. “Probably bigger than anything in Napoleon.” Gladiator II is set more than two decades after the events of the first film – following Paul Mescal’s Lucius on his own story of vengeance, a man sold into slavery who seeks glory in the gladiatorial arena having been inspired by the exploits of Russell Crowe’s Maximus as a child.
Exactly which colossal sequence opens Gladiator II remains to be seen – but we know that the film will see Lucius stepping into the Colosseum to face down a marauding rhino. Shooting the scene involved building the beast for real, utilising all the technological advancements that have arrived since the first Gladiator hit cinemas in 2000. “Computerisation and AI — you have to embrace it,” says Scott. “I can have a computer read every molecule and wrinkle on a rhino and then cut it on a thick piece of plastic, absolutely as a rhino’s body, which is then tailored to a skeleton shape.” Cue Mescal, then, facing the eight-wheeled, digitally-driven rhino in the (plastic) flesh. “I have this thing that can do 40 miles an hour, spin on the spot, wag its head and snarl,” Scott grins. “A two-ton rhino with a guy on its back! I mean, it’s a lot of fun.” Expect to be seriously entertained.
Read Empire’s full Gladiator II story in the Joker: Folie À Deux issue, on sale Thursday 1 August. Pre-order a copy online here. Gladiator II comes to UK cinemas on 15 November.