Tell about Gladiator ?

The film has been widely credited for reigniting interest in films about Ancient Greek and Roman Culture

Joaquin Phoenix improvised the line where he screamed, “Am I not merciful?!” which scared the bejeesus out of Connie Nielsen, who was not expecting it at all.

Maximus’ pet wolf is the same dog that played Wellard for seven years on “Eastenders.” This likely means very little to anyone outside of the UK. Or inside the UK, for that matter.

In reality, emperor Marcus Aurelius died of the plague and Commodus ascended to the throne. He was loved by the army and the lower classes until his megalomaniacal behavior forced his advisors to hire a champion wrestler named Narcissus to strangle him to death.

The remake of “Ben-Hur” has been widely credited for doing the exact opposite.

As a matter of fact, in the first draft of the script, dated April 4th, 1998, the protagonist was named Narcissus.

Much like today’s celebrity athletes, Roman gladiators also did product endorsements. However, the producers purposely left that out thinking that audiences wouldn’t believe it, which is a shame because it would have been great to see a scene in which Maximus screams, “At my command, unleash Bud Light!”

It was rumored that Mel Gibson was originally offered the role of Maximus, but he turned it down because he felt he was too old to play the part.

The real Commodus was known as the “Gladiator Emperor” because he would often make appearances in the arena to take down wild animals and other challengers. But he also cruelly brought cripples or amputees into the arena and clubbed them to death, turning the populace against him.

Much like today’s celebrity athletes, Roman gladiators also did product endorsements. However, the producers purposely left that out thinking that audiences wouldn’t believe it, which is a shame because it would have been great to see a scene in which Maximus screams, “At my command, unleash Bud Light!”

The forest near Farnham, England that doubled as Germania during the battle between the Roman Legions and the German hordes had been scheduled for “deforestation” by the Royal Forestry Commission. To get the shots he needed, Scott helpfully arranged to burn it down for them.

Ridley Scott denies this, insisting that Russell Crowe was his first and only choice for the role.

As part of the production, they built a 52-foot high portion of the first tier of the Colosseum measuring about one-third the circumference of the original. The rest of the arena was a digital recreation.

Although best known as a musician, Nick Cave was commissioned by Crowe and Scott to write a sequel. His solution to Maximus’ death was to have Maximus reincarnated by Roman Gods, transported to World War II, then the Vietnam War, before finally becoming a modern-day General at the Pentagon. The studio rejected it, suggesting that Cave stick to making his music.

The wounds on Russell Crowe’s face after the opening battle scene were real. He received them when his horse was startled and backed him into some tree branches.

Two weeks into production, Joaquin Phoenix had an epiphany that it would make sense for Commodus to gain weight, growing physically larger as his belief in his own power as Emperor grew. He did not mention what caused the epiphany, but there’s a strong likelihood that Cheetos were involved.

Crowe suffered multiple injuries on set including an aggravated Achilles tendon, a broken foot, a cracked hip bone, popped bicep tendons, and losing all feeling in his right forefinger for two years following a sword fight.

The film was greenlit after screenwriter David Franzoni answered three simple questions from Dreamworks exec Steven Spielberg

Five tigers were brought in for the sequence where Maximus fights Tigris the Gaul. For safety, there was a vet on hand armed with a tranquilizer gun.

Only 32 pages of the script had been completed when shooting began. To be fair, they were 32 awesome pages. Double spaced and everything.

There was a sequence in the original script that called for a fight between Maximus and a rhino. The rhino, however, turned out to be too difficult to train and the CGI rhino wasn’t realistic enough, so they scrapped the idea.

Ridley Scott was convinced to do the movie after producers showed him a copy of Jean Leon Gerome’s 1872 painting Pollice Verso, which depicted a gladiator awaiting a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down from the coliseum crowd.

Crowe reportedly didn’t love the now-famous line, “And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.” He tried to come up with something better on set, but in the end, decided to stick with it. Maximus’ vengeance speech became a fan favorite and one of the most quoted scenes in the entire film.

“That image spoke to me of the Roman Empire in all its glory and wickedness,” said Scott. “I knew right then and there I was hooked.”

Maximus’ family wasn’t originally planned to be killed off, but the subplot was added during the rewrite by John Logan in order to give Maximus’ character more reason to fight.