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'Gladiator 2' is "total Hollywood bullshit", says top historian

A top historian has dismissed 'Gladiator II' as "total Hollywood bullshit", saying she doesn't think "Romans knew what a shark was".

A feature by The Hollywood Reporter published today (October 30) makes a bid to separate the historical accuracies of the upcoming epic from its wilder sequences – like the use of sharks in a flooded Colosseum, which had already garnered praise (and disbelief) from viewers upon its reveal in the film’s trailer. Another Gladiator 2 scene shows a Roman noble sipping tea in a cafe while reading the newspaper – which, as The Hollywood Reporter noted, would be an anachronism as the printing press would not be invented until 1,200 years later. The Hollywood Reporter reached out to Scott about this, to which he replied that historical nitpicking doesn’t bother him with this film – nor with his 2023 biopic Napoleon, which starred Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role.

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