Will there be a director's cut of Gladiator II? Ridley Scott: ''I cut as I go along''

Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

The running time of the movie Gladiator II: Call of Heroes is 148 minutes. Director Ridley Scott is known for often releasing a "complete version" that includes unreleased scenes later. For example, several versions of Blade Runner have been released, including the "complete version", "director's cut" and "final cut", and for his most recent work Napoleon, he released a director's cut that included a total of 48 minutes of unreleased scenes.

Is there a possibility that something like a complete version of Gladiator II will be released later? When asked by Collider, Scott laughed self-deprecatingly, saying, "I have earned the right to make the final cut," and "It's usually my fault that my cut is released," explaining that there will probably not be another version of this film. Scott said that he edits the film at the same time as he shoots. "I cut as I go, so I don't have to struggle. I don't wait until I've finished filming, because that would take too long. I cut as I go. I need to see how things are going and see everyone's performances, so I think it's effective to cut as I go."

I asked producer Lucy Fisher the same question. Fisher answered, "Any scenes that needed to be cut were cut before filming," and "Scenes that were deleted due to budgetary constraints or because they were deemed unnecessary were deleted at the script stage." As an example, they had considered a scene depicting the past of Macrinus, played by Denzel Washington, but they decided that Washington's narration alone would be enough to convey the message to the audience, so they deleted it. 

"It means that the actor's power can convey the message without having to go to the trouble of depicting the past." According to Fisher, Ridley Scott is also very confident in the finished version and does not want to release another version at this time. The version that will be seen in theaters is the complete version, so let's burn everything into our eyes. "Gladiator II" is currently in theaters.