The strike in Hollywood is officially over, and after 118 long days, the many film productions that were forced to pause can slowly resume. Ridley Scott's much-discussed sequel to Gladiator is of course one of these, but after being unattended for such a long period, much of what was built up in Malta for the filming is now in a miserable condition. Weather and wind have taken their toll and the supposedly full-scale model of the Colosseum that was constructed as well as the film sets depicting the Roman Quarter will require a lot of love to be ready for filming again.
Thankfully, the director doesn't sit idle while the repairs are being carried out. About 90 minutes of material was filmed before the strike broke out, something that Ridley Scott is now working on.
The first Gladiator was also filmed in Malta and contributed to a real boost in the local economy at the time. Something that undeniably made the decision to approve the filming of the sequel easy for the executives, and according to an insider who is close to the production, the sequel is expected to contribute even more to the local economy this time around.
"This time round, we're giving the sequel €46.7 million against a local direct expenditure of not more than €55 million, so we'd be lucky as a country if we manage to end up with €10 million in our economy,"
When exactly we can expect to see Gladiator 2 is currently unclear, but we can probably expect the premiere to be postponed for a number of months.
Are you looking forward to Gladiator 2?
Thanks, Variety.