Ridley Scott: A Gladiator’s Heart
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Gladiator 2, Paramount's new/old billionaire, Richard Gere is a spy, Steve McQueen takes London, Donald Glover's New World and a Romeo killer.
Let’s go!
Ridley Scott is battling for eternity.
With the upcoming release of Gladiator 2 so quickly on the heels of Napoleon (2023), Scott is taking to heart Russell Crowe’s mantra in the original Gladiator (2000):
“What we do in life echoes in eternity.”
The imagery coming out of the first look is one for the ages:
Gladiators in the Colosseum (still)
Pedro Pascal’s general of war (still)
Denzel Washington and the Golden Throne (still)
Ridley Scott commanding his Gladiator (still)
Scott discussed the updated thematic terrain of the sequel:
“The leadership is in total chaos. We have demagogues—that’s a good word. The people who are in charge are out of their minds, and everyone is too afraid to contradict. That’s familiar ground right now.”
One of the central characters, played by Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), is a man wrecked with regret, uncertain of his path but driven by an insatiable thirst for power.
Pascal explained: