Ridley Scott has never been a filmmaker afraid of an epic scale, but according to actor Joseph Quinn, he may have outdone himself on “Gladiator 2.” IndieWire reports (via GQ) that Quinn often filmed sequences of the upcoming sequel with eight cameras, sometimes even on single scenes. Scott would then piece together camera shots to get what he wanted.
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“I was like, ‘Eight cameras?’ and he’s like ‘You gotta know where to f*cking put ’em,’” Quinn told the publication. “Clearly he does. Watching that puzzle, watching him harness all those pieces and put them together was fascinating, truly.” Eight cameras for one scene indeed feels like overkill, but it’s not the only audacious thing Scott pulled off with his sequel’s massive budget. The “Gladiator 2” production team also rebuilt the set in Malta from the 1999 film in the exact same spot, over twenty years later. “The set of “Gladiator 2” is a wonder to bear witness to,” Quinn continued. “You know that Rutger Hauer speech at the end of “Blade Runner”? ‘I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe,’ that’s what it felt like, just seeing it all. That’s what $300 million gets you.”
In other words, Scott has spared no expense for the long-gestating sequel to his 1999 Oscar Best Picture winner. Set 20 years after the events of “Gladiator,” the upcoming film stars Paul Mescal as a grown-up Lucius, nephew of Joaquin Phoenix‘s Commodus and son of Connie Nielsen‘s Lucilla, in a new adventure. Quinn plays Emperor Geta “Gladiator 2,” a new co-Caesar who holds Lucius’ fate in his hands. Fred Hechinger also stars as Emperor Caracalla. Other supporting cast includes Pedro Pascal as a general and Denzel Washington as a former slave-turned-merchant with a grudge against the new Caesars. Derek Jacobi reprises his role as Senator Gracchus from the 1999 film, and Nielsen also returns as Lucilla.
Quinn remained impressed with Ridley’s vision of “Gladiator 2″ throughout the historical epic’s production. “Ridley’s ambition, you see it in every frame,” said the actor. “The film is reaching for something that is very much its own thing but also has reverence for the first film.” But Quinn also recognized that the film’s budget gave the shoot a much different feel than smaller projects he’s worked on. “Obviously, the more money that gets involved, the more grown-ups are involved, and the grown-ups want a return for their investment, very understandably,” he continued. “Whereas if you’re working on something that’s more intimate, there’s a kind of collective ownership among the artists involved. But sometimes something comes along where there’s more money involved, and there’s brilliant people involved. And hopefully, you can have both, I think, but it’s increasingly hard. Ridley wants both.”
And Ridley certainly got both with “Gladiator 2.” The sequel sees some of the 1999 film’s crew return, such as costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max. And the upcoming film also sees Scott reunite with “Napoleon” scribe David Scarpa. It’s worth noting that Scott used a similar multi-camera approach on that film too, albeit with four cameras, not eight. “It releases and frees up the actors,” cinematographer Slawomir Idziak told IndieWire. “If mistakes occur, I never cut. I will keep running because a fortunate mistake can evolve into something magic.” Scott also praise the shooting style’s relative brevity to single-camera work. “With four cameras every day, it’s four times faster,” said the director. “A scene scheduled to last all day will be finished at 11 o’clock.”
And Scott fans know he likes to shoot fast, edit faster, and keep churning through project after project. He already has two other projects lined up after “Gladiator 2,” as well: a BeeGees biopic and “Bomb,” an action thriller. Even at 86, Scott shows no signs of slowing down. And with his kind of work ethic at that age, sure, let’s let him be a little gratuitous and use eight cameras at once.