The article contains spoilers for Gladiator II.FollowingGladiator IIbacklash for cutting May Calamawy from the sequel, a producer finally clarifies what happened. Ridley Scott finally returns to the fantastical world of his Oscar-winning 2000 epic movie, with Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal) becoming the lead hero in his story. Part oftheGladiator IIcastwas supposed to include Calamawy, who was reported to have a leading role in the sequel. However, her role was completely cut from the movie’s final edit, which led to many speculations about this decision.
In a recent interview withThe Hollywood Reporter,Gladiator IIproducer Douglas Wick addressed the matter of Calamawy’s absence. When asked ifthe removal was simply due to abridging the movie itself, he said that was exactly the case. The producer elaborated that the movie couldn’t be longer, and they had to make decisions that worked with the movie. He even described a cut goodbye scene between Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla and Pedro Pascal’s deceased Marcus. Read his comment below:
Yeah, very clearly. Even as we are, we’re a long movie. 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.
What This Comment Means About Why Calamawy Was Cut From Gladiator II
It Was Simply A Creative Decision To Cut Her Role
This response may have just settled the situation concerningCalamawy’s involvement inGladiator II. There was speculation about why the actor was removed from the movie, with many believing that her comment on the Palestine-Israel conflict led to her removal. This then fueled an intense online backlash. Calamawy was recently asked about this at a convention, confirming that her role was cut, but had kind words about working alongside Denzel Washington. However, Wick’s response confirms that Calamawy was not removed because of her recent geopolitical stance, but rather it was a creative decision due to the movie’s runtime in the first draft.
While filming forGladiator IIwas shut down due to Hollywood dual strikes last year, Scott was already in the process of editing the movie to at least make up for the time. The director, at one point,revealed that the movie’s cut was at four hours, which meant having to cut several more scenes to reach the final runtime of two hours and 20 minutes. Nevertheless, Calamawy’s role was likely cut to amend this long runtime without hurting the main story, which closely followed Lucius, Macrinus, and Lucilla.
While it may still seem upsetting that Calamawy was cut from the movie, it’s also worth noting that this is very common with editing any movie.
Unfortunately, it’s still unclear what kind of role Calamawy had in the movie. Aside from one brief appearance, the actor is not listed in the credits nor were there any clues to who she played. It has been speculated thatshe either played the daughter of Washington’s Macrinus or was a potential love interestto Lucius Verus, but none of those details has been confirmed. The only known detail is that her character was around Macrinus, which is evident from her only short scene and her recent comments.
Our Take On Calamawy’s Cut Role In Gladiator II
Cutting Roles Are Very Common In Movie Making
While it may still seem upsetting that Calamawy was cut from the movie, it’s also worth noting that this is very common with editing any movie. While filmmakers will have different ideas, much of the editing process requires cutting scenes if they don’t work with the overall story. This can sometimes mean cutting a whole cameo or even a character if their presence provides little to the overall story. This seems very apparent inGladiator II, with several side characters, like Lucilla and Macrinus, overpowering Lucius' own arc.
It’s possible that the sequel had no more room to include Calamawy, and it happens. The same situation happened with Rob McElhenney’s cameo being cut inDeadpool and Wolverinedespite being good friends with Ryan Reynolds. Therefore, the creative process requires making certain tough decisions, and this appears to be one that Scott made. Still, I hope that there is a chance to learn more details about Calamawy’s role, especially if Scott ever does consider an extended cut forGladiator II.
Gladiator II
Cast
Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.
