‘Gladiator 2’ Production Designer Arthur Max Made Everything Bigger and Better: It Was ‘Gladiator’ on ‘Steroids’
variety.comJazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Ridley Scott had one directive for production designer Arthur Max on “Gladiator II”: “I want to go big.
I want to imply the grandeur of the Roman Empire,” he told the veteran artisan. Max, who has been Scott’s go-to production designer for over two decades, delivered a concept that he calls “‘Gladiator’ on steroids.” For the sequel to the 2000 blockbuster, which was filmed in Malta and Morocco among other locations, Max kept many of the same architectural details.
Once again, Max was tasked with building Rome’s Colosseum set combining digital and practical effects. The set is the size of one football field and two stories tall.
For “Gladiator II,” Max had the stories built higher to accommodate a sequence in which the Colosseum is filled with water and a mock naval battle is staged. “The main entry arch in the first movie was about 20 feet high.
Read more on variety.com
