Ridley Scott has made the baffling decision to sequelize his 2000 peplum flick “Gladiator” 24 years after the original came out. The not-so-historically-accurate “Gladiator II” will follow Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal), who’s apparently the grown son of Maximus (Russell Crowe) from the original movie, as he gets into bloody, sword-wielding shenanigans of his own. Connie Nielsen is returning to play Verus’ mother Lucilla in the sequel, which also features new characters played by Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington. Like most of Scott’s movies, “Gladiator II” will be party produced by Scott Free, the director’s own production company (which has handled all the director’s films since 1991’s “Thelma & Louise”).
Relevant to this article: the Scott Free vanity card is a shadowy, 18-second animated short wherein a mysterious figure in a cloak lights a cigarette in the darkness before being startled by an opening door. The figure then runs a few steps and transforms into a bird. The vanity card was made by an artist named Gianluigi Toccafondo, a purveyor of short films. His movies tend to be shimmery and dreamy, incorporating a lot of painterly images that quiver and transform. A collection of his shorts can be found online on Vimeo.
Toccafondo not only made the Scott Free vanity card, but he also animated certain small moments for the first “Gladiator.” Scott, liking his work, wanted to hire Toccafondo for “Gladiator II” as well and reached out to get the Italian animator back on board … though not before asking him a rather amusing question first.
Ridley Scott asked Gianluigi Toccafondo if he was still alive
Toccafondo has mostly been working in Italy, making art, painting film posters, and staying insular to the Italian film industry; he hasn’t achieved much in the way of broad, mainstream international success. Indeed, the Scott Free vanity card might be Toccafondo’s best-known work in the United States. Even Ridley Scott to have fallen out of contact with Toccafondo, given the awkward question he asked the artist while hoping to rope him back in for “Gladiator II.” As the filmmaker explained to The Hollywood Reporter:
“I called him up and asked, ‘Are you still alive and want to do this?’ I had him animate elements from ‘Gladiator,’ so now you’re ‘being entertained’ before [the film begins].”
Yes, Toccafondo is alive (he’s only 59), and yes, he agreed to do it. Scott’s joke about being entertained is a reference to “Gladiator” when Maximus slayed several foes in a gladiatorial arena, and then turned to the audience and asked, accusatorily, “Are you not entertained?” The audience is being implicated in the arena-bound violence.
Because “Gladiator II” hasn’t been released yet, audiences haven’t yet been able to enjoy Toccafondo’s new work, but if Scott is to be trusted, the animated opening will be entertaining at the very least. Scott, meanwhile, has been on a hot streak in his later years. At the age of 86, Scott keeps churning out films, having made two in 2021 (“House of Gucci” and “The Last Duel”), one in 2023 (“Napoleon”), and now “Gladiator II” in 2024. Even now, he’s already charging ahead on a biopic of the Bee Gees and an action spectacular called “Bomb” in addition to thinking up ideas for “Gladiator III.” Are you not entertained?
“Gladiator II” hits theaters on November 22, 2024.
