Ridley Scott is leaning into the future of filmmaking — or at least the future of rhino fight scenes.
The auteur behind the upomcing “Gladiator 2” told Empire that he believes Hollywood has to “embrace” AI, especially given how necessary the technology has become in post-production and special effects. For a particular scene in “Gladiator 2” where Paul Mescal’s character battles a rhino, Scott said his team built an “eight-wheeled, digitally driven” rhino that is plastic and practical. Mescal, per Empire, was even able to climb aboard, and the beast down to its skin and shape looks terrific.
“Computerization and AI — you have to embrace it,” Scott said. “I can have a computer read every molecule and wrinkle on a rhino and then cut it on a thick piece of plastic, absolutely as a rhino’s body, which is then tailored to a skeleton shape.”
Scott didn’t elaborate as to what sort of tech was used in the film or say it incorporated generative artificial intelligence specifically. But Scott originally wanted the rhino concept to be part of the original “Gladiator” film way back in 2000, according to producer Doug Wick. However, the CGI for the rhino at the time was too expensive. Now technology can do a lot more, and Scott is leaning in.
“I have this thing that can do 40 miles an hour, spin on the spot, wag its head, and snarl,” Scott said of the sequel effect. “A two-ton rhino with a guy on its back! I mean, it’s a lot of fun.”
Scott said “Gladiator 2” contains “probably the biggest action sequence I’ve ever done” all to kick off the movie, and it’s even bigger than anything he staged for his most recent film, last year’s “Napoleon.”
Despite embracing technology, the “Blade Runner” and “Alien” director has long incorporated the fear of AI in his stories onscreen and knows better than most about its ramifications. Scott previously told Rolling Stone in November 2023 that when it came to his concerns about artificial intelligence broadly, he said that AI was “dangerous” and akin to a “technical hydrogen bomb.”
“We have to lock down AI. And I don’t know how you’re gonna lock it down,” Scott said at the time. “They have these discussions in the government, ‘How are we gonna lock down AI?’ Are you fucking kidding? You’re never gonna lock it down. Once it’s out, it’s out. […] If I’m designing AI, I’m going to design a computer whose first job is to design another computer that’s cleverer than the first one. And when they get together, then you’re in trouble, because then it can take over the whole electrical-monetary system in the world and switch it off. That’s your first disaster. It’s a technical hydrogen bomb. Think about what that would mean?”
As for the place of AI in Hollywood, especially with the generative AI threat to screenwriting amid the WGA strike, Scott added that he was “worried” about the ramifications, especially to the employment of creators.
“They really have to not allow this, and I don’t know how you can control it,” Scott said of AI in filmmaking. “Another AI expert said, ‘We are way over-panicking. Of course, I have a computer that can defeat a chess master in an hour because we can feed him every conceivable move from data, and it’ll process 1,900 conceivable moves on what the person will do next in seconds, and the guy is in trouble.’ There’s something non-creative about data. You’re gonna get a painting created by a computer, but I like to believe — and I’m saying this without confidence — it won’t work with anything particularly special that requires emotion or soul. With that said, I’m still worried about it.”
