Legendary production designer Arthur Max reveals the epic challenges of bringing the highly anticipated Gladiator sequel to life, from building massive Roman sets to tackling tricky water sequences.
beat sheet
Director Ridley Scott wanted to go 'larger scale' with Gladiator II, pushing production designer Arthur Max to oversee the construction of a football field-sized Colosseum set and other ambitious Roman landmarks.
Technology was key in the sequel, with Max's team preferring to build sets in the dry and add water digitally to simplify the logistics and streamline the production schedule, which was 'enormously compressed' compared to the original Gladiator.
call sheet
Arthur Max, Ridley Scott, Paul Mescal, Paramount Home Entertainment, Gladiator II