Production for the sequel to Gladiator has been brought back to life after months of an international actors’ strike led to a filming hiatus.
In July, Hollywood’s actors’ union announced a strike against movie and television studios after talks over pay and other working conditions collapsed.
At the time, the Screen Actors Guild told its members to prepare for “the long haul” as the union set its sights on producers, ready to fight for wages and every actor’s rights when it comes to the use of AI scanning in films.
Several months later, as talks were under way, director Ridley Scott said he wished to restart shooting the Gladiator sequel by the beginning of December.
After almost four months since the strike began, Scott would get his wish after the actors’ union approved a tentative three-year contract with film studios earlier in November, ending the strike.
Since Monday, extras, actors and crew have flocked back to the Roman era set to start rehearsing for what is left of the historic epic.
“It seems to be a little bit more budgeted,” one extra told Times of Malta, asking to remain anonymous.
Recalling that summer shoot days seemed to be filled with more people and commotion at the set at Fort Ricasoli, the extra said that the production plans to begin filming today.
Currently, the production is focusing on rehearsals for the film, the extra said, adding that more people may be on set when filming begins later in the week.
During the shoot’s off-months, the multifaceted set – which includes a large model of the Coliseum and other Roman-era architecture – remained standing.
The time off from filming left the set exposed to weather without regular maintenance, the extra said, as the filming location is in a worse state than what they remembered it to be.
“They are slowly reviving it, bringing it out of its deep sleep,” they said, noting issues such as leaky ceilings and weather-marked buildings.
Scanned extras feel scammed
Part of the actors’ strike focused on AI worries, which may pose a threat to their jobs in the future as the technology can take scans and reproduce performances from scratch.
During the strike, extras from the Scott film spoke to Times of Malta expressing their concerns about being scanned on set and how their likeness will be used in the future.
“It didn’t really feel like we could say no,” one extra said as production staff pulled aside extras with very little explanation on how the imagery will be used.
“If they do have your face, you have no idea if it’s going to be put in a trailer or a film or a video,” another extra said.
In documents seen by Times of Malta, extras signed a release form that gives consent to producers for the “reproduction, exhibition, transmission, broadcast and exploitation” of the project and their image.
The form also gave producers permission to “record,” “photograph,” “reproduce” and “simulate” the extra’s name, voice and picture “in any manner whatsoever”.