Ridley Scott is promising incredible action with “Gladiator II” and was apparently willing to use artificial intelligence to achieve his goal.
In a new interview with Empire Magazine, Scott said: “We started the movie with probably the biggest action sequence I've ever done. Probably bigger than anything in 'Napoleon.'”
“Gladiator II” arrives 20 years after the original Oscar-winning film starring Russell Crowe, with Paul Mescal taking over the lead role and co-starring with Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington.
In the first trailer, Mescal's character, Lucius, can be seen taking on a massive rhino.
Ridley Scott told Empire magazine that when it comes to AI and other technologies, “you have to embrace them.” (Desiree Navarro/WireImage)
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Scott told Empire that he combined a few techniques to create the massive beast.
“You have to embrace computerization and artificial intelligence,” said the director of “Alien.” “I can have a computer read every molecule and every wrinkle on a rhinoceros and then cut it into a thick piece of plastic, exactly like the body of a rhinoceros, which then conforms to the shape of a skeleton.”
The award-winning director did not specify what kind of “computerization and AI” were used or whether they involved generative AI in any way.
The “skeleton” was placed on an electronic platform and actuated by digital instructions.
“I have a thing that can go 60 km/h, spin on the spot, shake its head and grunt,” Scott told the outlet. “A two-ton rhino with a man on its back. It's a lot of fun.”
The rhino in “Gladiator II” was a technical feat that Scott achieved in part with artificial intelligence, according to his interview with Empire magazine. (Paramount Pictures)
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There is also a sequence featuring a flooded amphitheater to stage a naval battle, complete with sharks in the water.
Scott suggested the idea to screenwriter David Scarpa, as it was something he had wanted to do since the first “Gladiator” but felt the technology was limited.
“Computerization and artificial intelligence: we must embrace them.”
“They wouldn't have been able to do something of that scale and magnitude, but now they can. So it was definitely something we set out to incorporate from the beginning,” he said.
Scott's comment that AI “needs to be embraced” appears to be a change of heart from his previous comments on the technology.
Scott, left, appears with actor Paul Mescal on the set of “Gladiator II.” (Paramount Pictures)
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Last December, the “Blade Runner” director told Rolling Stone that he was terrified of AI taking over society.
“We have to put a stop to AI. And I don't know how that's going to be done,” he told the outlet. “The government is talking about 'How are we going to put a stop to AI?' Are you kidding? AI will never be stopped. Once it's gone, it's gone.”
And he continued: “If I'm designing an AI, I'm going to design a computer whose first job is to design another computer that's smarter than the first one. And when they get together, then you're in trouble, because then it can take over the entire electrical-monetary system of the world and shut it down. That's your first disaster. It's a technical hydrogen bomb. Think about what that would mean.”
The 86-year-old actor also spoke about AI in relation to the actors' and writers' strikes that took place during the summer of last year.
Last December, Scott called AI a “technical hydrogen bomb.” (Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage)
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“They really have to prevent this and I don't know how to control it,” he said.
He added, referring to generative AI: “There's something uncreative about data. You'll get a painting created by a computer, but I like to believe – and I say this without certainty – that it won't work with anything particularly special that requires emotion or soul. That said, I'm still worried about it.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Scott's representatives for additional comment, but they did not immediately respond.
