The director of ‘Gladiator 2’ is feeling disappointed with a detail about the new movie.
‘Gladiator 2’ is about ancient Rome’s famous gladiators, but it didn’t shoot any scenes in Rome. Instead, most of the filming took place in Malta. It’s because another TV series called ‘Those About to Die’ was filming in Rome at the same time.
‘Those About to Die’ is directed by Roland Emmerich and written by Robert Rodat. It booked the Rome locations before ‘Gladiator 2’s Ridley Scott could. As per Screen Rant, Rodat explained that there were limited filming spots in Rome and apologized, saying:
“It’s not a competition, but there are limited assets in Rome, and it’s my understanding that he was disappointed that he wasn’t able to shoot there. For that, I apologize!”
This is not the first time the ‘Gladiator’ franchise was filmed in Malta. The original movie from 2000 also shot its Colosseum scenes there, along with other locations in England and Morocco. ‘Gladiator 2’ used the same places for its production.
There Were Other Issues As Well
The movie had several challenges during production. It was paused for months because of the SAG-AFTRA strike. There were also allegations from PETA about animal mistreatment on set and an accident that injured some crew members. Still, filming wrapped up in January.
The cast of ‘Gladiator 2′ includes Paul Mescal as Lucius, who is inspired by the first movie’s Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe). Denzel Washington plays a former slave-turned-wealthy arms dealer, Pedro Pascal plays an ex-commander forced to fight as a gladiator, and Joseph Quinn portrays co-emperor Caracalla.
Connie Nielsen returns as Lucius’ mother, Lucilla, from the first film.
The first footage of ‘Gladiator 2’ was shown at CinemaCon in April and received positive feedback. Studio executives were also impressed by the early footage. Paramount Pictures hopes that ‘Gladiator 2’ will be even more successful than the original.
‘Gladiator 2’ is set to open in theaters on November 22.
