Watch: Don’t Go To Malta On Holiday, Ridley Scott Tells Christopher Nolan During Gladiator II Talk
He might’ve used Malta as the main backdrop to his much-anticipated epic sequel (and a cool $47 million cash rebate to make it here), but it doesn’t look like Gladiator II director Ridley Scott is coming to the islands as a tourist any time soon.
“Malta is a treasure trove of architecture,” Scott told just-as-popular (and recently knighted) director Christopher Nolan in a conversation uploaded by Paramount Pictures last week which already has over 80,000 views. But while reuploads of the talk by the likes of Malta Film Commissioner Johann Grech seem to conveniently end here (and even squeeze in another mention of Malta’s great memoirs of the past), there’s actually more to Scott’s views on the islands. And yeah, the part that just so happened to not be mentioned doesn’t actually sound that great.
“I wouldn’t advise going there on holiday,” Scott added to his compliments to Malta, hastily looking into the crowd in front of him and asking to make sure there were “no Maltese” in the crowd. “I wouldn’t go back there on holiday,” he doubled down, as everyone laughed.
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“But the architecture goes from medieval right through to renaissance, and when it’s good, it’s spectacular,” Scott said, returning to the historical and architectural gems which Malta holds.
Scott went on to reminisce on how the production saw green screen being instead replaced with actually building most of the architecture seen in the film, including the imposing Colosseum, because it was cheaper.
But speaking of money, Maltese taxpayers did actually end up paying the film’s production house a record €47 million for shooting here as part of a very generous 40% rebate, with Scott’s other film, his Napoleon biopic, getting almost €13 million for just three weeks of filming. So maybe, just maybe, this isn’t exactly what Maltese people want to be hearing right now.
What do you make of Scott’s comments on Malta?
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