Much has been said about Moon Knight star May Calamawy being cut from Gladiator II. Despite claims it may have something to do with her Egyptian-Palestinian heritage, we've repeatedly heard there simply wasn't room for the actor's unnamed character.
Based on what little has been revealed, we know the majority of Calamawy's scenes were with Denzel Washington, the Oscar-winner who plays ruthless slave owner Macrinus. Depending on who you believe, she was either his assistant or daughter (perhaps both).
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, producer Douglas Wick was asked whether Calamawy was cut simply to get the movie where it needed to be; remember, filmmaker Ridley Scott has previously said his first cut of Gladiator II was three hours and forty minutes.
"Yeah, very clearly. Even as we are, we’re a long movie," he explained. "So, yeah, very simply, it can’t be longer, and you have to see what works and what’s essential. Connie had a wonderful [deleted] scene where she basically said goodbye to [Pedro’s character’s] corpse, so you just always have to make choices about what’s essential."
Wick also addressed the decision to confirm that Lucius is the son of Russell Crowe's character, Maximus. "We weren’t sure of it," the producer admitted. "It wasn’t ingrained the whole time. Maximus was always his spiritual father, but we never determined at the time that Maximus was actually his biological father."
As for the long-rumoured plan to resurrect Maximus in what sounded like a bonkers supernatural-themed sequel, Wick says that discussions about bringing Crowe back never got particularly far.
"On a joking level, right after the first movie opened, Russell Crowe’s agent called me and said, 'I have an idea: they carry Maximus’ body out of the corner of the arena. They put the stretcher down, he gets up and they all high five and say, ‘It worked. They believe he’s dead.’ That would be the beginning of the sequel.' So there were funny ideas for a sequel, but obviously, Russell’s character was dead."
"The idea of him making his way back through the afterlife was always a little bit doomed, so the fact that we killed two of our leads [Crowe’s Maximus and Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus] created a particularly challenging circumstance. You could say Ridley Scott was the real star a little bit, and Ridley being your tour guide to Ancient Rome is always going to be an event. But it’s a fight movie, so you’re trying to move story and character forward through a series of fights, and that’s particularly challenging. So that’s why getting a story that stood on its own was so elusive for that long period of time."
There's already chatter about Scott moving forward with a third Gladiator movie, and we'd imagine that will focus on Paul Mescal's Lucius attempting to create the idyllic Rome his grandfather hoped for.
From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome. Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist.
With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.
Based on characters by David Franzoni and a story by Peter Craig and David Scarpa, Ridley Scott directs Gladiator II from a script by Scarpa. The cast includes Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, with Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington.
Gladiator II is now playing in theaters.