The Retrospectors - Today In History
May 11, 2022
Russell Crowe vs. the Romans
Ridley Scott’s ‘Gladiator’ opened in the UK on 12th May, 2000 - and was widely credited with resurrecting the ‘swords-and-sandals’ genre, sparking an interest in Roman history, and achieving that rare combination of critical praise and humongous box office success.
But the epic production was problematic - not least because supporting star Ollie Reed died during filming, leading to SFX house The Mill filling in the remainder of his scenes with CGI, at a cost of $3 million.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Russell Crowe came to be cast as Maximus; consider the alternative screenplays, featuring fighting hippopotamuses and man-on-man bath wrestling; and uncover songwriter Nick Cave’s bizarre attempts at penning the sequel…
Further Reading:
• ‘Ridley Scott says Oliver Reed ‘dropped down dead’ after challenging sailors to drinking match while filming Gladiator’ (The Independent, 2020): https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/…