Historical epics used to be one of the top genres in Hollywood. It seems like every year there was a “Ben Hur” or a “Cleopatra” or a “The 10 Commandments.” Then, that genre went by the wayside. It didn’t go away completely, though, thanks to films like “Gladiator.” In fact, “Gladiator” also showed that there was still some hunger for movies of this ilk, though it was also perhaps an anomaly, give or take a “300,” which is less a historical epic and more a Zack Snyder paean to gore and abs. Let’s flashback to the turn of the millennium for a more set over a millennium into the past with 20 facts about “Gladiator.”
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20 facts you might not know about ‘Gladiator’
Historical epics used to be one of the top genres in Hollywood. It seems like there was a Ben Hur, Cleopatra, or The 10 Commandments every year. Then, that genre went by the wayside. It didn’t go away completely, though, thanks to films like Gladiator.
Gladiator also showed there was still some hunger for movies of this ilk. It was perhaps an anomaly, give or take a 300, which is less a historical epic and more a Zack Snyder paean to gore and abs. Let’s flashback to the turn of the millennium for a more set over a millennium into the past with 20 facts about Gladiator.
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The screenplay was inspired by a book that had been kicking around for a while
“Gladiator” is an original story, first pitched by David Franzoni after his success with “Amistad.” However, as he was not an expert on Ancient Rome, he did turn to sources for inspiration. One of those was the 1958 novel “The Way of the Gladiator” by Daniel P. Mannix. However, that book got retitled after its release and is now known as “Those About to Die.”
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Maximus wasn’t known as Maximus originally
Some of the characters in “Gladiator” are real people from history, such as Commodus and Marcus Aurelius. Maximus, the main character, is not one of those. Originally, though, the character was called Narcissus in the script. There was an actual Narcissus, and in real life, he purportedly killed the real Commodus. Eventually, Franzoni decided to create a new main character.
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Mel Gibson turned down the lead role
Russell Crowe ended up playing Maximus, but he was not the first choice. Originally, Mel Gibson was offered the chance to star in the movie. Gibson felt he was too old for the part, though, so he decided to decline the opportunity.µ
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞
