Legendary director Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Blade Runner) said his upcoming sequel to the multi-Academy Award winning 2000 epic is “the best thing I’ve ever made.”

The director then corrected himself when speaking with Empire, stating; “One of the best things. I’ve made a few good ‘uns.”

Scott’s long awaited sequel stars Paul Mescal (as Lucius), Pedro Pascal (as General Acacius), Denzel Washington (as Macrinus), Connie Nielsen (returning as Lucilla), Joseph Quinn (as Emperor Caracalla), May Calamawy, Matt Lucas, Fred Hechinger, and Rory McCann.

The screenplay was written by David Scarpa who previously collaborated on Ridley Scott’s controversial biopic from last year, ‘Napoleon,’ where Scott re-teamed with Joaquin Phoenix, who played the antagonist Commodus in the original ‘Gladiator’ film.

“We begin the film with probably the biggest action sequence I’ve ever done,” Ridley Scott says when speaking about the sequel. “Probably bigger than anything in Napoleon.”

The director also touched on how the original film enhanced and innovated CGI, and his thoughts on technological progression in film:

“Computerisation and AI — you have to embrace it,” says Scott. “I can have a computer read every molecule and wrinkle on a rhino and then cut it on a thick piece of plastic, absolutely as a rhino’s body, which is then tailored to a skeleton shape. I have this thing that can do 40 miles an hour, spin on the spot, wag its head and snarl. A two-ton rhino with a guy on its back! I mean, it’s a lot of fun.”

The sequel releases on November 15, 2024 (United Kingdom) and November 22, 2024 (United States).

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