A top historian has called the upcoming Gladiator II “total Hollywood nonsense.”
An article in The Hollywood Reporter, published on October 30, aims to clarify the historical facts in the new movie versus its more imaginative scenes – like showing sharks in a flooded Colosseum, a detail that sparked both amazement and doubt from viewers after appearing in the film’s trailer.
Dr. Shadi Bartsch, a classics professor at the University of Chicago and an expert on ancient Rome, criticized the film as unrealistic.
Advertisement I doubt the Romans even knew what a shark was,
she explained, though she noted that the arena did host naval battles.
Regarding the use of rhinos in the Colosseum, Bartsch mentioned a poem from 80 A.D. describing a rhinoceros tossing a bull into the air. However, she clarified that it wasn’t the same type of rhino as seen in the Ridley Scott film. She also pointed out that there’s no evidence of gladiators riding rhinos.
In another scene from Gladiator II, a Roman noble is shown drinking tea in a café and reading a newspaper. However, as The Hollywood Reporter pointed out, this wouldn’t be possible since the printing press wasn’t invented until 1,200 years later.
They did have daily news called Acta Diurna, but it was carved on stone and put up in specific places, You had to go to see it; you couldn’t just read it at a café. Plus, they didn’t even have cafés back then!
Bartsch explained
The Hollywood Reporter asked Scott about this, and he said he isn’t bothered by the historical details people are questioning in this film or in his 2023 biopic Napoleon, which starred Joaquin Phoenix.
By the time you reach 2024, it’s all just guesswork.
He explained
Since the movie hasn’t been released, the historical claims are based only on the Gladiator II trailers and early clips. The fact that Bartsch spotted such obvious mistakes in this content alone doesn’t look good for the finished film. With a runtime of nearly 2.5 hours, Gladiator II has plenty of time to include historical moments. If even the early clips aren’t accurate, it seems unlikely that Scott created a film that sticks to history.
This might be a bad sign for Gladiator II’s box office success. With a huge budget estimated between $165 million and $300 million, Gladiator II is one of the most expensive films of the year. It needs to make a lot of money to cover its production costs.
The movie will also compete against Evil during its opening weekend, and some polls show that the musical is ranked higher. It could hurt Gladiator II’s box office performance if people start talking about the film’s historical inaccuracies.
Gladiator II, featuring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, and Connie Nielsen (who returns as Lucilla from the first movie), recently had its first screening and received great feedback from those who watched it.
The movie will hit theaters in the UK on November 15 and in the US on November 22.