Ridley Scott Wants to Remake His Biggest Flop as a ‘Four-Hour’ Movie

Legendary Hollywood director, Ridley Scott is turning 87 this month, and to celebrate, he gave an in-depth retrospective interview to The Hollywood Reporter about his career up until now and going forward, including the highly anticipated sequel, Gladiator II. Entering the industry at 26 years old, Scott began working on BBC television series before forming a production company with brother Tony Scott, Ridley Scott Associates, before directing his first feature film, The Duellists, in 1977. He has been making films ever since, and he has no plans to slow down.

Looking back on his career, Scott highlighted the opening shot of Blade Runner as the one he was most proud of. It is the image of Los Angeles set to a sound which conjures sentimental memories for Scott of the film’s composer, Vangelis. Scott previously worked with Vangelis on the film 1492: Conquest of Paradise, starring Gérard Depardieu and Sigourney Weaver. Scott joked about Depardieu’s line delivery and gushed over the film’s beautiful cinematography and score. 1492 tells the story of Christopher Columbus’ expedition to North America. Scott shared his hopes for revisiting the film, saying,

“I’m trying to resurrect
1492
because it’s so beautifully shot and acted and scored. I’m trying to resurrect it as a four-hour [movie] for a streaming platform.
Now
if I asked, “Gérard, can we ADR you with Kenneth Branagh?” he’d probably say, “Yeah, of course.”

1492 was released in 1992 on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage, but today, in 2024, a film about the infamous explorer might be received very differently. These days, the consensus is that he did not ‘discover’ America, and that he was a violent slave owner who enslaved and killed thousands of natives, taking their land and having their body parts paraded through the land as a warning. It’s gone so far that Columbus Day is now known as Indigenous Peoples Day for many people. Of course, an epic film about him and that expedition could still be incredible, but it will be interesting to see how much objectivity there is and what perspective it takes.

Gladiator II and Other Upcoming Ridley Scott Productions

In the last few years alone, Scott has directed 2021’s The Last Duel and The House of Gucci, 2023’s Napoleon, and is now nearing the theatrical release of Gladiator II. The new feature is generating a lot of online buzz, with many predicting Oscar nominations for the film (just like the first movie). Believe it or not, Scott has never won an Oscar, though he has been nominated four times before. Once for Best Picture in 2016 for The Martian starring Matt Damon, and for Best Director in 1992, 2001, and 2002 for Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down, respectively.

In the interview, the director pats himself on the back with regard to the project, confident that he has “crushed” the long awaited sequel. The runtime is about 2 hours and 20 minutes, including opening titles at the beginning with animated elements from the original Gladiator film. The cast is stacked with Hollywood legends and heavy hitters, including Denzel Washington (The Equalizer), Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers), and Barry Keoghan (Saltburn).

Related

Ridley Scott Compares Gladiator II to Current Political Climate: ‘Impossibly Horrific’

Scott presents his opinion on what could become “a very dangerous situation.”

Scott has also been working as a producer through his company, Scott Free most recently producing this summer’s Alien: Romulus and the upcoming Blade Runner 2099 series, created by Silka Luisa for Prime Video. There is also a new series coming to FX titled Alien: Earth by creator Noah Hawley. When asked how it feels to see his cinematic work reinterpreted by new artists for the smaller screen, Scott said,

The filmmaker went on to shout out Hawley for respecting the original Alien and said, no matter the platform, he’d be watching the series. Blade Runner 2099 is set to land on Amazon Primer in 2025 and Gladiator II hits theaters Nov. 22.

Release Date

November 22, 2024

Cast

Paul Mescal , Pedro Pascal , Denzel Washington , Connie Nielsen , Joseph Quinn , Fred Hechinger , Derek Jacobi , May Calamawy , Peter Mensah , Matt Lucas , Alexander Karim , Tim McInnerny , Lee Charles , Chidi Ajufo , Alfie Tempest , Riana Duce , Chi Lewis Parry , Paul Candelent , Hadrian Howard , Alexander Simkin , Mikhail Basmadjian , Matthew Charlery-Smith , Maxime Durand , Lior Raz

Studio(s)

Paramount Pictures , Universal Pictures , Scott Free Productions , Red Wagon Entertainment

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