As its celebrates its 25th anniversary, Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind Ridley Scott’s Gladiator…
The production of Gladiator was one rife with problems and delays. A proper script wasn’t in place when filming began, one of its prominent cast members passed away unexpectedly, and the shoot itself was a gruelling one for both cast and crew. And yet, the film went on to become one of the highest grossing movies of that year, winning the favor of critics and audiences alike and bagging multiple Oscars come awards season. It was the unexpected pop-culture phenomenon which brought back Hollywood sword-and-sandal epics and launched the careers of its lead cast to the stratosphere. As it celebrates its 25th anniversary we look back at the film’s behind-the-scenes story and what took place during the making of this epic historical drama…
The story was inspired by an excursion through Europe and a historical book
David Franzoni was the man responsible for writing the first draft of the Gladiator screenplay. Three decades prior, after concluding his college education, a young Franzoni spent a year travelling around the world. The writer traversed across Eastern Europe and the Middle East by motorcycle, running into people from various countries who were travelers much like himself. Franzoni recalled that “Everywhere I went in Europe, there were arenas. Even as I went east, going through Turkey, I began to think to myself this must have been a hell of a franchise.” It was during this year of adventure that he came across the book called “Those Who Are About to Die” by Daniel P. Mannix, which was a meticulously researched novel on the life of Roman Gladiators.
In the late 1990s Franzoni penned the screenplay for one of Steven Spielberg’s efforts titled Amistad, which happened to be the first film from the fledgling studio DreamWorks Pictures. Though the historical drama received favorable reviews it failed to make a significant dent in the worldwide box office. But the producers over at DreamWorks saw Franzoni’s potential and gave him a three-picture deal as writer and co-producer. Remembering his memorable trip 35 years ago, Franzoni pitched his gladiator story to Spielberg who immediately told the writer to hammer out a script and the creative chose to center the story on Commodus, with the protagonist being Narcissus, a wrestler who allegedly strangled Commodus to death.
The producers felt that Ridley Scott was the man for the job
Ridley Scott is a filmmaker who has made a name for himself directing such genre classics as Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Legend and 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Because of Scott’s extensive experience in successfully helming movies from multiple genres DreamWorks producers Walter F. Parkes and Douglas Wick felt that the veteran director was “the” man for the job when it came to bringing David Franzoni’s sword-and-sandal epic to life. The producers showed Scott a copy of Jean-Léon Gérôme’s 1872 painting Pollice Verso, which encapsulated their and communicated requirement in one image. Scott was so enamored with the image he was shown that he immediately signed on to direct the film. When Parkes insisted that the filmmaker didn’t know anything about the movie’s story, the filmmakers sternly responded by saying, “I don’t care, I’ll do it.” Such was Scott’s conviction about the property.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, La Dolce Vita, and The Conformist influenced the film
From the get-go Scott made it perfectly clear that he wanted to steer clear of the usual cliches that are featured in regular sword-and-sandal features, such as people lounging around drinking wine in extravagant Roman villas. The filmmaker wanted to create a more realistic version of ancient Rome, replete with conniving senators, corrupt politics and brutal violence. Scott and Franzoni discussed at length regarding the films that would influence Gladiator, and some of these flicks include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, La Dolce Vita, and The Conformist.
After Scott boarded the project, he was of the opinion that the script’s dialogue needed a slight polish and so he hired acclaimed playwright John Logan to rewrite certain portions of Franzoni’s draft. Logan ended up rewriting much of the story’s first act and made the decision to kill of Maximus’ family to heighten the character’s desire for revenge. This was simply the start of the film’s much talked about script-related issues, but more on that later.
Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson and Hugh Jackman were frontrunners for the lead role
Russell Crowe was an up-and-coming actor with some excellent performances under his belt in 1997’s L.A. Confidential and 1999’s The Insider when he got cast as Maximus in Gladiator. To say the movie irrevocably altered the trajectory of his career would be something of an understatement. But prior to Crowe’s casting several other actors were considered, for the now iconic role including Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson and Hugh Jackman. Banderas was dropped as he wasn’t the right fit for Maximus and Gibson declined the offer since he was already committed to playing the lead role in 2000’s The Patriot. Jackman too was rejected since he was a relative unknown at the time. But despite being dropped from the lead role, Banderas did appear as an extra playing a peasant in the movie and was reportedly paid a whopping $50,0000 for the role, the highest salary for an extra at the time.
Russell Crowe was persuaded to join the project by Michael Mann
Although prominent performers such as Banderas and Gibson were considered for Maximus’ role at first, the producers had Crowe at the top of their list following his breakout performance in L.A. Confidential. Crowe, however, was not interested in the project and didn’t even bother to read the script that was sent to him. But after being sufficiently persuaded by Michael Mann, who was directing him on The Insider, the young actor had a look at the script and signed on. Crowe began shooting a few months after production on The Insider wrapped but as he had gained substantial weight to play the aged whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, he had to lose more than 40 pounds to be ready for Gladiator. But to achieve the favorable physique to play a Roman general Crowe didn’t engage in a strict diet regimen or hit the gym, he simply got back to working on his farm in Aussie for a few months until production commenced.
Joaquin Phoenix sent a ‘knockout’ audition tape to the producers
Like his co-star Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix too had quite the meteoric rise in Hollywood following his scene stealing performance playing the villainous role in Gladiator. The talented auteur has worked in multiple genres over the years and received acclaim for his performances in movies like Signs, Hotel Rwanda, Walk the Line, The Master and Her. Phoenix went on to win the Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Actor for his outstanding work on Todd Philips’ Joker, released in 2019. During the casting process for Gladiator, British actor Jude Law was one of the frontrunners for the role of Commodus but after seeing the “knockout” audition tape of Phoenix, the producers offered the role to the actor.
Script related problems were rife from the very beginning
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, script related issues was something that hampered the production of Gladiator from the inception. Franzoni and Logan completed their second draft of the screenplay in October 1998 but two weeks before production was due, British playwright and novelist William Nicholson was brought on board to revamp the existing script. Nicholson’s primary role was to make Maximus’ character more sensitive, rework the friendship with Djimon Hounsou’s Juba and expand upon the afterlife plot point in the narrative.
However, in spite of these changes the script was in a perpetual state of change throughout principal photography, with Ridley Scott seeking creative input from writers, actors and producers. Some of the most memorable lines of dialogue were ad-libbed by the actors. An example would be Commodus’s line “Am I not merciful?” which was a contribution by Phoenix. Another example was the phrase “Strength and Honor” uttered by Maximus before riding out against the Germanic tribes, which was a reworking of the Latin motto of his high school, “Veritate et Virtute”, which in turn meant “Truth and Virtue”. According to David S. Cohen’s book “Screenplays” the original 130-page draft, date October 1997 by David Franzoni was “different in almost every detail from the finished movie.”
Ridley Scott set fire to an actual forest during production
Yep, you read that correctly. Ridley Scott did set fire to an actual forest during the making of Gladiator. The opening battle scene which saw Maximus’ army at war against Germanic tribes was actually shot at Bourne Wood, near Farnham, Surrey in England. Initially of course, the plan was to inflict minimal damage to the surrounding woods but when Scott learned that the Forestry Commission was attempting to remove a section of the forest, he jumped at the opportunity and obtained their permission to burn it down for the opening action sequence. When photographing these elaborate scenes cinematographer John Mathieson utilized multiple cameras which filmed at different frame rates and used a 45-degree shutter, to create stylized visuals which were reminiscent to what DOP Janusz Kaminski achieved for Saving Private Ryan.
CGI played an important role in resurrecting Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed was reluctant to be part of Gladiator at the outset, but at the insistence of Death Wish director Michael Winner the legendary star thought he’d give it a chance. The gruff actor played the no-nonsense gladiator trainer which was a pivotal role in the film. However, the veteran performer died of a heart attack three week before all his scenes could be filmed and this presented a conundrum to Ridley Scott and company. A clause in the movie’s contract would have offered wiggle room for the producers to re-shoot Reed’s scenes from scratch with a different actor but pretty much the entire cast were exhausted by the gruelling shoot. So, in order to complete the unfinished scenes, Scott instructed the script to be slightly tweaked and have Reed’s face be digitally attached to the body double filling in for the former actor’s scenes. Due to the untimely nature of Reed’s death the movie is dedicated to his memory.
About that unforgettable score by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard
The stunning score for Gladiator was composed by maestro Hans Zimmer accompanied by Dead Can Dance lead vocalist Lisa Gerrard. Zimmer originally wanted Israel vocalist Ofra Haza to provide the background vocals to the score as his previous collaboration with the singer on Prince of Egypt was a successful one. Sadly, the talented artist’s untimely demise due to AIDS-related pneumonia led to the Lisa Gerrard being brought on board. The score was arranged and composed by Zimmer and Gerrard and conducted by Gavin Greenaway with the Lyndhurst Orchestra performing the music. The legendary Luciano Pavarotti was, at one point, asked to perform for the score but the artist turned down the opportunity. The original film soundtrack was produced by Decca Records and released on April 25, 2000. Decca later released three follow-up albums: Gladiator: More Music From the Motion Picture (2001), Gladiator: Special Anniversary Edition (2005), and Gladiator: 20th Anniversary Edition (2020) due to the ever increasing popularity of the movie’s music. The score is one of the bestselling movie soundtracks of all time.
Box-office success, rave reviews, award wins and an enduring legacy
Made on a production budget of $110 million Gladiator went on to make a respectable killing at the box-office by raking in $465 million and going on to become the second-highest-grossing film worldwide in the year 2000 behind Mission: Impossible 2. The movie received rave reviews from most film critics who highlighted Crowe’s compelling performance, Scott’s visually arresting direction and the lavish production values. As of writing the flick boasts as solid 80% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website’s consensus of the effort is as follows: “While not everyone will be entertained by Gladiator’s glum revenge story, Russell Crowe thunderously wins the crowd with a star-making turn that provides Ridley Scott’s opulent resurrection of Rome its bruised heart.”
At the 73rd Academy Awards Gladiator received twelve nominations and ended up nabbing five golden nudies for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound. At the 58th Golden Globe Awards the flick received five nominations in total and won in the categories of Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Original Score – Motion Picture. Gladiator also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film that year. Because of the absurdly pointless Academy regulations at the time, Gladiator co-composer Lisa Gerrard was denied an Oscar nomination which created a huge controversy come awards season. However, both artists received due acknowledgement and a win at the Globes.
Gladiator has been famously attributed to reviving the sword-and-sandal epics in the early 2000s with efforts such as Troy, Alexander and King Arthur released in 2004, and Kingdom of Heaven and 300 released in the following years. Not all of these efforts were critical or financial successes like Gladiator but there’s no denying the influence it had on all of these. The movie also played a major role in making Russell Crowe a household name and providing Joaquin Phoenix greater recognition in the industry. Like Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park ignited interest in the niche field of Palaeontology and dinosaurs in general, Gladiator too stimulated the interest people had in Roman history and still continues to be used as a reference point about historical accuracy in Hollywood during discussions.
Due to the enduring nature of the IP numerous version of Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s iconic score and an extended version of the theatrical release have also been released in multiple formats over the years. A sequel to Gladiator has also been in development at various stages over the past two decades and finally culminated in 2024’s Gladiator II headlined by Paul Mescal with Ridley Scott in the director’s chair. Although it received positive reviews and a decent box-office run, the long gestating sequel was unable to make the impact its predecessor did all those years ago.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
