Summary
- The $50 million refund for Gladiator 2 is facing backlash from locals in Malta, who feel it has taken away jobs from them.
- Malta Film Commissioner Johann Grech defends the decision, saying it is meant to attract more foreign investment and protect local jobs.
- The controversy surrounding Gladiator 2 also includes concerns about animal abuse and a recent accident on set, but the former has been refuted by the production.
After setting a new European cinema record, Gladiator 2‘s $50 million refund is getting backlash from Malta locals. The upcoming movie acts as a sequel to Ridley Scott’s acclaimed historical epic, now picking up 20 years after the 2000 Oscar winner and centering on Lucius, Commodus’ nephew, as a grown man and how he has changed since being saved by Maximus from his uncle. Scott is back at the helmed and assembled a large roster for the Gladiator 2 cast, including Paul Mescal as Lucius, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger and May Calamawy.
Just days after the financial incentive was announced, Gladiator 2‘s $50 million refund is getting a lot of backlash, with Malta’s Film Commissioner Johann Grech now responding in a new video on his Twitter (translated via Times of Malta). Grech vehemently defended the decision to provide the foreign production with such a large rebate, criticizing the local businesses who are speaking against it as “attacking the stability of the film industry” and assuring that it wasn’t meant to take away from local businesses, but rather “attract more foreign investment” for them. See Grech’s explanation in the quote and video below:
Those who are attacking the Maltese cash rebate incentive are attacking the stability of the film industry. This is an attack on our country, to push away foreign investment. Those who are speaking against the cash rebate are speaking against your job and your future. But we will protect your job. It is an attack on the jobs of Maltese and Gozitan people and on those who invested in the industry through their business. For us, your job is important. When we speak to foreign production houses we realize that you are one of the main reasons we are able to bring so many films to our country and I will not let anyone stifle your work. It is another incentive like the many we give to other industries, such as the gaming and financial services industries, to attract more foreign investment. My message is for us all to unite. Divisions never got us anywhere. We are all brothers and sisters and our country always won every time we worked together. We created stability in the industry and generated work for you all year round. We will not stop here and we will not go back to becoming an industry of part-time workers. We will not leave you alone. We will protect your job.
Why Gladiator 2’s Refund Is Getting Backlash
The major tax rebate is not the only controversy Gladiator 2 has faced in its production with an accident occurring just within a few days of filming beginning that left four crew members hospitalized and an additional two with injuries. Additionally, PETA took to accusing the production of animal abuse due to “whistleblower reports” from the set of horses and primates receiving poor treatment and reaching out to urge live animals no longer be used. These concerns were later refuted by a source close to the production, who assured that the American Humane Society has been present during filming and no harm has come to the animals.
As Grech indicates above, the sequel’s record-setting refund is mostly receiving backlash from Maltese locals, who feel the production bringing in almost exclusively foreign crew has taken away jobs. Considering the large scale of the historical epic, there are sure to be plenty of opportunities for those living where the movie is filming to receive a job on its production. Additionally, the decision to offer some financial relief to Paramount and Universal Pictures just for choosing to film in the country could be seen as enabling similar behaviors on future productions looking to shoot in Malta rather than push for local hiring.
That said, Grech’s assurance that the Malta Film Commission will look to protect local jobs, this deal made for Gladiator 2 could be a stepping stone towards said relationship with foreign productions. It’s unclear if any such clauses were included in the contracts signed between the organization and studios, but rather than enable them, Grech and his team may have made sure that locals are not left out as more blockbuster projects come to the country.
Source: Times of Malta & @JohannGrech/Twitter