Where to watch Gladiator (2000)

Trivia & production notes

• Screenwriter David Franzoni conceived the idea for Gladiator while reading a 1958 novel during a stop in Baghdad on a 1972 motorcycle journey through Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
• Ridley Scott agreed to direct Gladiator after seeing only a single 19th-century painting and admitting he knew nothing about the film's story.
• Screenwriter John Logan rewrote much of Gladiator's first act and made the creative decision to kill off Maximus' family to strengthen his motivation for revenge.
• Mel Gibson turned down the role of Maximus because he was already committed to filming The Patriot.
• Joaquin Phoenix was cast as Commodus after sending in an audition tape described as a knockout, beating out Jude Law for the role.
• The Colosseum scenes were filmed in Malta using a 52-foot-tall replica of one-third of the actual structure, with the remaining two-thirds and height added digitally.
• Ridley Scott obtained permission from the Forestry Commission to burn down a section of forest scheduled for removal in order to film the opening battle scene.
• Actor Oliver Reed died of a heart attack during filming before completing his scenes, so his character's death was written into the script and his face was digitally attached to a body double in post-production.
• Russell Crowe sustained multiple injuries during filming that led to long-term problems with his knees, shoulders, and Achilles tendons.
• The battle scenes used cinematography techniques from Saving Private Ryan, including multiple cameras filming at different frame rates with a 45-degree shutter to create a stylized visual effect.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Gladiator (2000 film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.