Gladiator is a 2000 epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson. The film was co-produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Universal Pictures. DreamWorks Pictures distributed the film in North America while Universal Pictures released it internationally through United International Pictures. It stars Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed (in his final role), Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel, Richard Harris, and Tommy Flanagan. Crowe portrays Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, murders his father and seizes the throne. Reduced to slavery, Maximus becomes a gladiator and rises through the ranks of the arena to avenge the murders of his family and his emperor.
Inspired by Daniel P. Mannix's 1958 book Those About to Die (formerly titled The Way of the Gladiator), the film's script, initially written by Franzoni, was acquired by DreamWorks and Ridley Scott signed on to direct the film. Principal photography began in January 1999, before the script was completed, and wrapped up in May of that year, with the scenes of Ancient Rome shot over a period of nineteen weeks in Fort Ricasoli, Malta. The film's computer-generated imagery effects were created by British post-production company The Mill, who also created a digital body double for the remaining scenes involving Reed's character Proximo due to Reed dying of a heart attack during production.
Gladiator premiered in Los Angeles on May 1, 2000, and was released theatrically in Australia on May 4, the United States on May 5 and in the United Kingdom on May 11. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the acting (particularly Crowe's and Phoenix's performances), Scott's direction, visuals, screenplay, action sequences, musical score and the production values. It was a box office success, grossing $187.7 million in the United States and $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. The film won multiple awards, including five at the 73rd Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor for Crowe, Best Costume Design, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. It also received four BAFTA Awards at the 54th British Academy Film Awards for Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and Best Editing. Since its release, Gladiator has also been credited with reinventing the sword-and-sandal genre and rekindling interest in entertainment centered around the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, such as the television series Rome.
In 2021, Scott officially announced that writing had begun on a sequel to the film, which would formally enter development after the completion of his Napoleon biopic Kitbag.
REAR COVER
THE GENERAL THAT BECAME A SLAVE THE SLAVE THAT BECAME A GLADIATOR THE GLADIATOR WHO DEFIED AN EMPIRE
Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, GLADIATOR is a dazzling combination of vivid action and extraordinary storytelling: Discover the unparalleled power of GLADIATOR, masterfully directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner), and featuring a riveting performance from Russell Crowe, hailed by Newsweek as a "genuine larger-than-life hero!"
DEVELOPMENT
David Franzoni, who wrote the first draft of the Gladiator screenplay, traveled across Eastern Europe and the Middle East by motorcycle in 1972. "Everywhere I went in Europe, there were arenas", Franzoni recalled. "Even as I went east, going through Turkey, I began to think to myself this must have been a hell of a franchise." During a stop in Baghdad, Iraq, he started reading the 1958 Daniel P. Mannix novel Those About to Die,[a] which gave him the idea for Gladiator.
Twenty-five years later, Franzoni wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's Amistad, which was Spielberg's first film for DreamWorks Pictures. Though Amistad was only a moderate commercial success, DreamWorks was impressed with Franzoni's screenplay and gave him a three-picture deal as writer and co-producer.[8] Remembering his 1972 trip, Franzoni pitched his gladiator story idea to Spielberg, who immediately told him to write the script. After reading the ancient Roman text Historia Augusta, Franzoni chose to center the story on Commodus. The protagonist was Narcissus, a wrestler who, according to the ancient historians Herodian and Cassius Dio, strangled Commodus to death.
Several dead men and various scattered weapons are located in a large arena. Near the center of the image is a man wearing armor standing in the middle of an arena looking up at a large crowd. The man has his right foot on the throat of an injured man who is reaching towards the crowd. Members of the crowd are indicating a "thumbs down" gesture. The arena is adorned with marble, columns, flags, and statues.
Pollice Verso by Jean-Léon Gérôme
DreamWorks producers Walter F. Parkes and Douglas Wick felt that Ridley Scott would be the ideal director to bring Franzoni's story to life. They showed him a copy of Jean-Léon Gérôme's 1872 painting Pollice Verso, which Scott said portrays the Roman Empire "in all its glory and wickedness". He was so captivated by the image that he immediately agreed to direct the film. When Parkes pointed out that Scott did not know anything about the story, Scott replied, "I don’t care, I’ll do it".
Once Scott was on board, he and Franzoni discussed films that could influence Gladiator, such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, La Dolce Vita, and The Conformist. However, Scott felt Franzoni's dialogue lacked subtlety, and he hired John Logan to rewrite the script. Logan rewrote much of the first act and made the decision to kill off Maximus' family to increase the character's desire for revenge. In November 1998, DreamWorks reached a deal with Universal Pictures to help finance the film: DreamWorks would distribute the film in North America, while Universal Pictures would distribute it internationally.
CASTING
Before Russell Crowe was cast as Maximus, several other actors were considered for the role, including Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson, and Tom Cruise. Gibson turned down the role as he was already committed to The Patriot (2000). However, producers had Crowe at the top of their list after his breakout performance in L.A. Confidential (1997). Jude Law auditioned for Commodus, but Joaquin Phoenix was offered the part after sending in a "knockout" audition tape. Jennifer Lopez reportedly auditioned for Lucilla, but the role went to Connie Nielsen. Lou Ferrigno was originally offered the role of Tigris of Gaul, but the role went to Sven-Ole Thorsen.
PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY
The film was shot at three main locations between January and May 1999. The opening battle scene set in the forests of Germania was shot at Bourne Wood, near Farnham, Surrey, in England. When Scott learned that the Forestry Commission was planning to remove a section of the forest, he obtained permission to burn it down for the scene. The scenes of slavery, desert travel, and the gladiatorial training school were shot in Ouarzazate, Morocco. The scenes set in Rome were shot in Malta, where the crew built a replica of about one-third of the Colosseum to a height of 52 feet (16 meters). The other two-thirds and remaining height were added digitally. The scenes of Maximus' farm were filmed in Val d'Orcia, Italy.
When filming battle scenes, Scott and cinematographer John Mathieson used multiple cameras filming at various frame rates and used a 45-degree shutter, which resulted in stylized visuals similar to those found in Saving Private Ryan. For the fight sequence involving tigers, both real tigers and a dummy tiger were used. Some of the live animals were filmed on set with the actors, and some were filmed against a bluescreen and then digitally composited into the scene.
Crowe was injured multiple times during principal photography. Describing the impact filming had on his body, Crowe said, "I've still got a lot of little scar[s]". He added, "I've had Achilles tendons go out, knees go out, both shoulders, this shoulder's actually had an operation on it ... I've got a lower back thing that just won't go away, and that's from a couple, sort of, fall impacts during fight sequences". Oliver Reed died of a heart attack on May 2, before all his scenes had been filmed. His character, Proximo, was meant to survive, but after Reed's death the script was revised to include his death at the hands of the Praetorian Guard. To make it appear that Reed had performed the entirety of Proximo's scenes, a body double was used, and Reed's face was digitally attached to the body of the double in post-production. The film is dedicated to Reed.
SCRIPT COMPLAINTS AND REVISIONS
Although Franzoni and Logan completed a second draft of the screenplay in October 1998, Crowe has claimed that the script was "substantially underdone" when filming began three months later. In an interview with Inside the Actors Studio, Crowe said the crew "started shooting with about 32 pages and went through them in the first couple of weeks." The script was constantly changing throughout principal photography, with Scott soliciting input from writers, producers and actors. Some dialogue was created on the spot, such as Commodus' line "Am I not merciful?", which was ad-libbed by Phoenix. Crowe invented the phrase "Strength and Honor", which is a modified version of the Latin motto of his high school, "Veritate et Virtute", which translates as "Truth and Virtue". Crowe also improvised part of the scene in which Maximus describes his home to Marcus Aurelius. Instead of recounting the details of a fictional place, Crowe actually described his own home in Australia.
At one point, William Nicholson was hired to rewrite the script to make Maximus a more sensitive character. He reworked Maximus' friendship with Juba and developed the afterlife plot thread. He said he "did not want to see a film about a man who wanted to kill somebody". Crowe, however, was unhappy with some of Nicholson's dialogue. He allegedly called it "garbage", but is said to have claimed he is "the greatest actor in the world" and can "make even garbage sound good." According to a DreamWorks executive, Crowe "tried to rewrite the entire script on the spot. You know the big line in the trailer, 'In this life or the next, I will have my vengeance'? At first he absolutely refused to say it.”
MUSIC
The musical score for Gladiator was composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, and conducted by Gavin Greenaway. The original soundtrack for the film was produced by Decca Records and released on April 25, 2000. Decca later released three follow-up albums: Gladiator: More Music From the Motion Picture (2001), Gladiator: Special Anniversary Edition (2005), and Gladiator: 20th Anniversary Edition (2020).[citation needed] In 2025, La La Land Records released a three discs expanded edition for the 25th anniversary.
"Now We Are Free"
Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard
Duration: 32 seconds.0:32
Listen to a clip from the Gladiator score
Problems playing this file? See media help.
In 2006, the Holst Foundation accused Hans Zimmer of copying the work of the late Gustav Holst in the Gladiator score. The organization sued Zimmer for copyright infringement and the case was settled out of court.
INITIAL THEATRICAL RELEASE
Gladiator had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2000. The film was released in the United States and Canada on May 5, 2000.[36] It earned $34.8 million during its opening weekend, making it the number one film of the weekend, and it remained number one in its second weekend, earning $24.6 million. During its third weekend, Gladiator fell to second place with $19.7 million, behind Dinosaur ($38.9 million). The film spent a total of ten weeks in the top ten at the box office, and was in theaters for over a year, finishing its theatrical run on May 10, 2001. Its total gross in the United States and Canada was $187.7 million. Gladiator opened on May 12, 2000, in the United Kingdom, and grossed £3.5 million in its opening weekend. It spent seven weeks at number one, and its total gross surpassed $43 million. The film was also number one for seven weeks in Italy, and for five weeks in France. Outside of the United States and Canada, Gladiator grossed $277.8 million, for a total worldwide gross of $465.5 million against a budget of $110 million. It was the second-highest-grossing film worldwide in 2000, behind Mission: Impossible 2 ($546.3 million).
SUBSEQUENT THEATRICAL RELEASE
In 2020, Gladiator was re-released in Australia and the Netherlands to commemorate its 20th anniversary. This limited release grossed $4.8 million. The following year, it was re-released in the United Kingdom, earning a gross of $16,257.
HOME MEDIA AND RIGHTS
Gladiator was first released on DVD and VHS on November 21, 2000, and generated $60 million in sales within the first week. With new releases in subsequent years, the film grossed $15.8 million. In February 2006, Paramount acquired the domestic rights to Gladiator, along with the rights to all other live-action films DreamWorks had released between 1997 and 2005, following their billion dollar acquisition of the company's live-action assets. Gladiator's international rights still currently belong with Universal, although the film's sequel Gladiator II was released by Paramount without Universal's involvement.
In September 2009, the film was released by Paramount Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, re-released in August 2010 in a higher quality transfer, and in May 2018 it was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray. An extended version of the film, with 16 extra minutes of footage, is also available on all three formats.
CRITICAL RESPONSE
Gladiator was called "magnificent", "compelling", and "richly enjoyable" by some critics. Crowe's performance in particular received praise. Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Joe Morgensten said that Crowe "doesn't use tricks in this role to court our approval. He earns it the old-fashioned way, by daring to be quiet, if not silent, and intensely, implacably strong." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Crowe brings an "essential physical and psychological reality to the role", while Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said that Crowe uses "his burly frame and expressive face to give dimension to what might otherwise have been comic book heroics."Variety called Crowe's performance "simply splendid".
Critics also praised Scott's directing and the visual style of the film. Manohla Dargis of LA Weekly commended Scott's state of the art filmmaking and expressed admiration for the film's "breathtaking, brutal lyricism". Entertainment Weekly called the opening battle sequence "extraordinary", and described Scott as a "visual artist at his most deluxe." Michael Wilmington of The Chicago Tribune called Gladiator "visually electrifying". In addition to Crowe's acting and Scott's directing, reviewers also applauded John Mathieson's cinematography, Arthur Max's production design, and the musical score composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard.
Although critics lauded many aspects of Gladiator, some derided the screenplay. Ian Nathan of Empire magazine called the dialogue "pompous", "overwritten", and "prone to plain silliness". Roger Ebert said the script "employs depression as a substitute for personality, and believes that if characters are bitter and morose enough, we won't notice how dull they are." Manohla Dargis called the story predictable and formulaic.
In his 2004 book The Assassination of Julius Caesar, the political scientist Michael Parenti described Gladiator as "unencumbered by any trace of artistic merit". He also criticized the film's depiction of Roman citizens, claiming that it portrays them as bloodthirsty savages. Brandon Zachary of the entertainment website ScreenRant has claimed that the plot of Gladiator borrows heavily from the 1964 film The Fall of the Roman Empire, which is also about the transition from Marcus Aurelius to Commodus and the latter's downfall.
Audiences polled on Gladiator's opening day by the market research firm CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 257 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "While not everyone will be entertained by Gladiator's glum revenge story, Russell Crowe thunderously wins the crowd with a star-making turn that provides Ridley Scott's opulent resurrection of Rome its bruised heart." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 67 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
ACCOLADES
Main article: List of accolades received by Gladiator
Gladiator won five awards at the 73rd Academy Awards, and was nominated for an additional seven.
Wins
Best Picture
Best Actor (Russell Crowe)
Best Visual Effects
Best Sound
Best Costume Design
Additional nominations
Best Director
Best Original Screenplay
Best Supporting Actor (Joaquin Phoenix)
Best Original Score
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Film Editing
At the 58th Golden Globe Awards, Gladiator won two awards and was nominated for an additional three.
Wins
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Additional nominations
Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (Russell Crowe)
Best Director
Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Drama (Joaquin Phoenix)
Gladiator also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film. In 2021, Empire magazine ranked Gladiator 39th on its "100 Best Movies Of All Time" list, and declared it the 22nd best film of the 21st century. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes included the film on its list of "140 Essential 2000s Movies". The character Maximus placed 95th on Empire's list of 100 Greatest Movie Characters. In 2025, it ranked number 92 on The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" and number 33 on the "Readers' Choice" edition of the list.
DETAILED PLOT
In 180 AD, Hispano-Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius intends to return to his home after he leads the Roman army to victory against the Germanic tribes near Vindobona on the Limes Germanicus. Emperor Marcus Aurelius tells Maximus that his own son, Commodus, is unfit to rule and that he wishes Maximus to succeed him, as regent, to help save Rome from corruption and restore the republic. Upon hearing this, Commodus murders his father.
Commodus proclaims himself the new emperor, asking Maximus for his loyalty, but the latter refuses. Maximus is arrested by the Praetorian Guard and is told that he and his family will die. He kills his captors and rides for a month's time from Germania, at Vindobona (present-day Vienna), to his home near Trujillo, where he finds his estate destroyed and his wife and son crucified. Maximus buries them, then collapses from his injuries. Slavers find him, and take him to the city of Zucchabar, across the Pillars of Hercules, in the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis, where he is sold to gladiator trainer Proximo.
Maximus reluctantly fights in local tournaments, his combat skills helping him win matches and gain popularity. He befriends two other gladiators: Hagen, a German; and Juba, a Numidian. Juba becomes a close confidant to Maximus, the two speaking frequently of the afterlife and the latter's eventual reunification with his family. Later on, Proximo reveals to Maximus that he was once a gladiator who was freed by Marcus Aurelius, and advises him to "win the crowd" to win his freedom.
When Commodus organizes 150 days of games to commemorate his father's death, Proximo takes his gladiators to Rome to fight in the Colosseum. Disguised by a masked helmet, Maximus debuts in gladiatorial combat in the Colosseum as a Carthaginian in a re-enactment of the Battle of Zama. Unexpectedly, he leads his side to victory, and Commodus enters the Colosseum to offer his congratulations. He orders the disguised Maximus, as leader of the gladiators, to show himself and give his name; Maximus uncovers his face and declares vengeance. Commodus is compelled by the crowd to let the gladiators live, and his guards are held back from striking them down.
Maximus's next fight is against a legendary undefeated gladiator, Tigris of Gaul. Commodus has arranged for several tigers to be set upon Maximus during the duel; Maximus, however, prevails. Commodus orders Maximus to kill Tigris, but Maximus spares his opponent's life; he is called "Maximus the Merciful" by the crowd. Angered at this outcome, Commodus taunts Maximus about his family's deaths, but the latter turns and walks away.
Maximus discovers from Cicero, his ex-orderly, that his former legions remain loyal. He meets in secret with Lucilla, Commodus's sister; and Gracchus, an influential senator. They agree to have Maximus escape Rome to join his legions, topple Commodus by force, and hand power back to the Roman Senate. Commodus learns of the plot when Lucilla's son, Lucius, innocently hints at the conspiracy. Commodus threatens Lucilla and Lucius, and has the Praetorian Guard arrest Gracchus and attack the gladiators' barracks. Proximo and his men, including Hagen, sacrifice themselves to enable Maximus to escape. Maximus is captured at the rendezvous with Cicero, where the latter is killed.
In an effort to win back public approval, Commodus challenges Maximus to a match in the Colosseum. He stabs Maximus in the lung before the match to gain an advantage. Despite his injuries, Maximus manages to disarm Commodus, whom the now disloyal Praetorian Guard refuse to aid. Commodus then produces a hidden knife and attacks, but is quickly countered by Maximus, who pummels Commodus with his bare fists, and drives the knife into the emperor's throat, killing him. Maximus succumbs to his wounds. Before he dies, he asks for political reforms, for his gladiator allies to be freed, and for Senator Gracchus to be reinstated. His friends and allies honor him as "a soldier of Rome", at Lucilla's behest, and carry his body out of the arena, leaving the dead Commodus behind.
That night, Juba visits the Colosseum and buries the figurines of Maximus's wife and son at the spot where he died. He promises to see Maximus again, "but not yet".