Belated but sincere birthday wishes. 85, I think? And STILL vital!
Ridley Scott reinvented visuals on film. ALIEN! BLADE RUNNER! And so on. Every one of his movies fuse aesthetic and moral motifs. NAPOLEON is his imminent effort and will be a surefire Oscar winner. Kubrick never made his picture on that same topic so it’s nice to get Scott’s take.
Even more fascinatingly? GLADIATOR 2 is coming. They will probably not be using the Nick Cave script (set in the afterlife?). But there is no reason to avoid casting Russell Crowe as a descendent of Maximus at some later stage in history? Remember, Rome had a dense and long grip on the world. And 2010’s ROBIN HOOD as well as Peter Weir’s 2003 effort, MASTER AND COMMANDER, were attempts to kind of cast Crowe in a Gladiator like role, without full on sequel treatment.
Ridley: if you are recruiting for the next epic, now? I can recommend this recent interviewee:
Oh and for voiceover/ action scene consultant? Try this other distinguished gentleman.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIR RIDLEY!
