9. It Inspired A Swath of Copycats
Not only did Gladiator revive a dead genre, but it inspired studios and filmmakers to make their own attempts at cashing in on the new sword-and-sandals craze. After Gladiator was released, ancient Rome (and Greece) became pop culturally relevant again, and nowhere was this more evident than in subsequent films from the past ten years. It seems clear that films such as Troy, 300, and the recent remake of Clash of the Titans (and its sequel) wouldn't exist had Gladiator not been released. But filmmakers were inspired by the film's visual style as well, as evident in subsequent historical epics such as King Arthur, and director Ridley Scott's own Kingdom of Heaven and Robin Hood, the latter of which particularly felt like a shameless attempt to recapture his past success. But the inspiration of Gladiator was not just felt in the film world. It is doubtful that the successful game series God of War would exist without the influence of Gladiator, and the television series Rome - not to mention the popular Spartacus series on the Starz network - would never have come to fruition had public interest in ancient Rome not been rekindled by Gladiator a few years prior.