Ridley Scott Has Been Editing 90 Minutes Of ‘Gladiator 2’ Amid Strikes, Footage Includes A Baboon Fight Scene

deadline.com:

Before the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes shut down Hollywood and the production of Gladiator 2, Ridley Scott was able to shoot 90 minutes of the film, which he had been editing amid the strikes. “With SAG-AFTRA and the studios back in negotiations, he was preparing to pick up Gladiator 2, which stars Paul Mescal, the moment the strike was resolved. ‘I could shoot on Monday,’ he said. (The talks fell apart a week later.),” reads the New Yorker profile on Scott.

Footage that was shot before the strikes includes a scene with baboons. The profile continued, “In the meantime, he’d been polishing the 90 minutes he had, including a scene in which the hero fights a pack of baboons; he’d been haunted, he said, by a video of baboons attacking tourists in Johannesburg: ‘Baboons are carnivores.

Can you hang from that roof for two hours by your left leg? No! A baboon can.’” The Gladiator sequel is set years after the original film and has Mescal taking over the role of Lucius that Spencer Treat Clark portrayed in the 2000 movie.

Pedro Pascal is also part of the cast and Mescal recently recalled running into him at LAX but “too afraid” to approach him. “He came up and just seemed so genuine,” Mescal told Esquire, in an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike. “I’m really looking forward to hanging out with him.” Although Mescal was not able to give too many details about the film, which has been halted due to the strikes, he did say, “I think it’s really well written and it pays homage to the first one, but it’s very much something that I think I can step into and make comfortably my own.” By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.