Can we all agree that Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” was a total dud? Paul Mescal was miscast, the script meandered, and it lacked the emotional and dramatic pull of the original.
Despite the sequel being a mess, it still found an audience, largely thanks to the “Gladiator” brand. Russell Crowe wasn’t involved, yet “Gladiator II” earned $462M worldwide despite underwhelming reactions from audiences and critics alike. The main problem is that it reportedly cost $250M to produce, with some claiming the budget exceeded $300M. In all likelihood, it lost a lot of money.
Now, Puck’s Matt Belloni is shedding new light on the Paul Mescal situation surrounding Ridley Scott’s “The Dog Stars,” which opened to just $7.7M. And the budget, according to Belloni, is — as suspected — much higher than the trades led us to believe: $89M.
Mescal was originally attached to star in “The Dog Stars,” only to be replaced by Jacob Elordi at the last minute. His team blamed “scheduling conflicts” with Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles films, but that explanation has been disputed, and Belloni hints that it’s bollocks.
According to people close to “The Dog Stars,” Scott was reportedly unhappy with Mescal following “Gladiator II” and felt the actor wasn’t “masculine enough” for the role in that movie. Too little, too late. Oh, and Scott’s not wrong in his assessment — he should have known better than to cast him.
Whatever the real story is, Mescal may have gotten lucky. “The Dog Stars” bombed hard, and he’s now set to play Paul McCartney in four Beatles movies. In hindsight, losing the role might have been the best thing that happened to Mescal.
As for “Gladiator II,” it’s hard to overstate just how much Scott and Russell Crowe’s “Gladiator” arrived at the perfect moment in 2000 — a time when original storytelling still thrived on the big screen. The film would go on to win Best Picture, earn Crowe a Best Actor Oscar, and cement itself as a mainstream modern classic of the 21st century.
And yes, Crowe’s performance ran circles around Mescal’s. It wasn’t even a contest.
Mescal was originally set to star in “The Dog Stars” before being replaced by Jacob Elordi. His team cited “scheduling conflicts” with Sam Mendes’ Beatles films, but that explanation has since been disputed.