Ridley Scott says the TV industry is “a massive basket full of balls”

Ridley Scott has compared the TV industry to “a massive basket full of balls”.

The Gladiator II director previously worked on two episodes and executive produced the HBO Max sci-fi series Raised By Wolves before it was cancelled after two series.

Speaking about the industry in a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Scott said: “TV is a massive basket full of balls. Every now and again something comes up like The Sopranos and Game Of Thrones that influences everybody, who then rushes to that ball to copy it and it’s already too late. That’s how I function as a director – what’s the next ball?”

Speaking about the cancellation of Raised By Wolves, Clayton Krueger, president of the TV division at the director’s company Scott Free, said: “It was deeply frustrating. We really were creatively positioned to start up. We had broken the season, we had the team together. We felt like the show really found its footing.”

Next month on the big screen, Gladiator II which follows Paul Mescal’s Lucius, the former heir to the Roman Empire who becomes a gladiator when his home is invaded by the Roman army, led by Pedro Pascal’s Marcus Acacius, will be released.

The new film is set 25 to 30 years after the events of the original 2000 film, which won Best Picture at the Oscars, as well as Best Actor for Russell Crowe.

Following the first screening in Los Angeles in front of an audience of AMPAS and SAG voters earlier this month, the first reactions were overwhelmingly positive.

More recently, a top historian dismissed the upcoming sequel as “total Hollywood bullshit”.

Despite that, Scott recently revealed that he is already working on an idea for Gladiator III.

“I’m already toying with the idea of Gladiator III,” he said. “No, seriously! I’ve lit the fuse…The ending of Gladiator II is reminiscent of The Godfather, with Michael Corleone finding himself with a job he didn’t want, and wondering, ‘Now, Father, what do I do?’ So the next [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is.”

Gladiator II will hit cinemas on November 15.

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