“You see the money on the screen”: Why Hollywood is betting Gladiator II won’t be another Folie à Deux | Action and adventure films

AA scale model of the Colosseum, flooded and full of longboats. A two-ton, eight-wheeled, life-sized rhino that can spin, growl, wag its head and reach 40 miles per hour. And as much ground beef, sweet potatoes and personal training as Paul Mescal can handle. These were some of the enormous costs involved in the production of Gladiator II, which hits theaters next month, 24 years after Ridley Scott’s blockbuster original.

One might assume that such flashy spending would make studio executives sweat, but Hollywood is betting that the film will be a commercial success – especially given the disastrous box office returns for another recent sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, Todd Phillips’ follow-up to his film 1 Reached $1 billion in 2019, now quickly pivoting to streaming and expected to lose $200 million.

The headline-grabbing excess of “Gladiator II” is still adding up, says Variety editor-in-chief Steven Gaydos. “You can see the money on the screen,” he says. With “Joker 2,” the opposite was true: “If they had made the movie for $80 million, it would have been hugely profitable.” Instead, they spent $200 million on two people singing in a room.”

That, says Gaydos, was the folly of its director and its stars, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, who allowed themselves to be lured into making the film they wanted rather than the one the audience wanted. Gladiator II, on the other hand, has been carefully tested and calculated since its launch.

“Nowadays there are so many computer models and predictive analytics that Paramount pretty much knows what Gladiator is going to do,” says Gaydos. “When you put certain stars in a film [Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal join Mescal] And if you call it “Gladiator II,” it will make $750 million and play in awards season, which means a longer screening period, so we’ll do it.”

Meanwhile, Scott, the now 86-year-old director, has retained the work ethic and economic pragmatism of his early years in the advertising industry, with few auteuristic indulgences from colleagues like Francis Ford Coppola or even Martin Scorsese. (Killers of the Flower Moon grossed even less at the box office than Joker 2 on its $200 million budget.) Scott is so confident in the project that he’s already working on the scripts for the next sequel.

Smart cost-cutting also sweetened the deal: much of the film was shot in Malta, which brought in 47 million euros in tax refunds – an EU record. There are also lucrative and strategic sponsorship relationships, including with Pepsi and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Whatever the risk was for Paramount, it seems almost certain to pay off. “The few people who have seen the film so far are pretty optimistic about it,” says Gaydos. “It will clearly be a huge success and will be well received critically.”

The template is Paramount’s 2022 blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick. Both are long-delayed second installments of hits by a Scott brother (Tony Scott shot “Top Gun” in 1986). Both have the same sweaty, jam-packed, macho-sad demographic appeal that ultimately helped Tom Cruise’s film gross $1.5 billion and earn six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

“Gladiator II will be a serious, legitimate contender in all major awards categories,” predicts Gaydos, pointing to Martin Scorsese’s long-overdue best director win for 2007’s “On the Road.” “Now it’s time for Ridley. He never won, but is clearly one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of cinema.”

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What we know about Gladiator II

Paul Mescal plays Russell Crowe’s son
Since all roads lead to Rome, in Gladiator II a brave warrior is forced into the arena to overthrow weak rulers. This time it is Lucius Verus II (Mescal), who lived peacefully in North Africa until a conquering army hastens his return home. There it is revealed that he is actually the exiled son of Empress Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and that his father is not the late Emperor Lucius Verus I, but the strapping martyr Maximus (Crowe).

Paul Mescal survives
Crowe may not have been so lucky, but Mescal’s character definitely isn’t fatally impaled by sword or horn in “Gladiator II,” whose ending Scott compared to that of “The Godfather,” “where Michael Corleone has a job he done.” I don’t want to and I ask myself: “What should I do now, father?” So the next thing [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is.”

Russell Crowe is not in it
There are flashbacks, but the new film appears to have a no-ghost rule in which Russell Crowe is neither involved nor consulted. Fellow injured Joaquin Phoenix also doesn’t appear and it seems unlikely that Oliver Reed was revived for the event. However, Derek Jacobi is back.

It could have been completely different
Ideas for sequels have been around for more than 20 years. One concept that reached a fairly advanced stage of development was called “Christ Killer,” written by Nick Cave, in which Maximus is resurrected from purgatory and sent back to Earth to kill Jesus. He then takes part in the Crusades, World War II and Vietnam before finding a job at the Pentagon. Despite Crowe’s enthusiasm, the idea was ultimately scrapped by the studio.