During the 1950s and 60s the historical epic was something of a staple of Hollywood's output - from Ben-Hur to The Fall of the Roman Empire, sword and sandals tales on a huge scale were incredibly popular, guaranteed to draw huge crowds into the cinemas. By the late 1990s, however, this was long a thing of the past. Studios were reluctant to pour the required millions into such lavish productions for fear that the public no longer wanted to see such movies, and for the most part they were right. Then Ridley Scott came along - collaborating with writers and producers David Franzoni and Douglas Wick, they pitched the idea of Gladiator to Universal Pictures who gave the movie the green light even before a script had been completed. It was a bold move, especially considering that the script would be under constant rewrites throughout the lengthy production. The result was better than anyone involved could have hoped for - the epic sword and sandals blockbuster had been reborn, and Gladiator performed exceptionally well, both at the box office and the Academy Awards. The production of the film is a story unto itself, and the team faced a number of problems they had to overcome. There are plenty of interesting asides worthy of note which cropped up as well, and the following list covers ten of the most quirky and interesting facts about Gladiator you most likely didn't know. Strength and honour!
