‘Gladiator II’ Cinematographer Denies Criticizing Ridley Scott as ‘Lazy’

The Gladiator II cinematographer has attempted to walk back his comments accusing the movie’s director Ridley Scott of becoming “lazy” — saying that his criticism was taken out of context.

Last week, Gladiator II cinematographer John Mathieson’s comments about Scott’s “rush, rush, rush” approach to filmmaking went viral.

In an interview on The DocFix Documentary Storytelling Podcast, the veteran cinematographer voiced strong disapproval of his longtime collaborator Ridley Scott’s filming techniques on Gladiator II, describing them as “really lazy.”

Mathieson — who has served as cinematographer on several of Scott’s films, including Robin Hood, Hannibal, Gladiator, and its sequel — shared his concerns about the director’s increasingly “rushed” filmmaking methods and reliance on CGI (computer-generated imagery). He described Scott as less meticulous and more impatient on set.

Mathieson also said that, unlike his earlier projects, Scott now frequently opts to use multiple cameras during filming which negatively impacts the cinematography since he “can only light from one angle.”

However, in an exclusive interview with Deadline on Friday, Mathieson now denies insulting Scott’s directorial approach and explained that he was complaining about “the [film] industry at large” on the podcast.

Mathieson says he forgot about the interview he did on the podcast until the cinematographer was contacted by Scott’s team over his comments. He says he is “regretful” about it.

The cinematographer says that his two-hour interview on the podcast was condensed to 30 minutes. Mathieson says that the podcast’s edit made it seem like he was savaging Scott.

“I said, the industry, it’s really lazy. Lazy and sloppy are not two words I would ever put with this gentleman [Scott] of a certain age and genius,” Mathieson tells Deadline.

“But if you slide out — and you can hear it — you slide out a paragraph and put it right next to, oh, let’s talk about Rid [Ridley] and multi-cameras. And he edits the piece down to 30 minutes.

“I could hear the blip of the sound. I said, well, that wasn’t said against that. That was probably said maybe 20 minutes later. However, this is what has risen to the surface. And I’m deeply regretful of that.”

According to the report in Deadline, the podcaster also apologizes to the Mathieson for “any problems” that the edit may have caused the cinematographer in his professional relationship with Scott.

However, some film journalists have been skeptical of Mathieson’s retraction of his comments. In a piece in alternative movie news outlet World of Reel, movie critic Jordan Ruimy says he re-listened to portions of the cinematographer’s interview and believes he is very clearly talking about Scott. Ruimy claims that Mathieson says “he” multiple times during the interview and tries to make his point by referring to Scott’s behavior on Gladiator II and Robin Hood.

Image credits: Header photo by 2024 Paramount Pictures.