Ridley Scott Just Called His New Film a Career Best — And Took a Swipe at His Gladiator II Crew

Ridley Scott is doing two things at once right now: hyping his next movie as maybe his best work, and quietly closing the door on a longtime collaborator who publicly knocked his shooting style.

The Mathieson fallout

John Mathieson has been in Scott's orbit for roughly two decades, starting with the original Gladiator and returning for Gladiator II. Right before Gladiator II hit theaters, Mathieson took a swipe at Scott's love of running multiple cameras at once, calling that approach lazy and bad for cinematography. He later claimed the remarks were clipped out of a longer conversation and stripped of context. Either way, the relationship sounds cooked.

"He said something really extraordinary on a podcast. I thought, 'What?! WHAT!!!' And that was it. Sorry, dude. That's it. Maybe he'd had a few pints."

That was Scott, in a new Dazed interview, and he does not sound like a guy planning a reunion.

The eight-camera thing (aka the inside baseball)

Scott loves to roll with a ton of cameras. It is efficient, it is chaotic, and a lot of DPs hate it. Scott, clearly, does not. For his new film The Dog Stars, he teamed up with Erik Messerschmidt (Mindhunter) and says they ran eight cameras and everyone was happy. So, no, the multi-cam era is not going anywhere.

The Dog Stars: fast shoot, big claim

Scott says he shot The Dog Stars in 34 days — his words: basically TV speed — and then drops the kind of line only Ridley Scott drops: this might be his best movie. Worth noting, he said something similar about Gladiator II, calling that one of the best things he has ever made. Confidence is not the issue here.

Cast flex and what the movie is

Scott also did a little casting victory lap. Before he calls anyone, he combs through everything they have done, and he backs himself as a great caster. For The Dog Stars, he lined up Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, and Josh Brolin. In his words, if the actors are available, he usually gets them.

The story comes from Peter Heller's novel. It is set nine years after a flu pandemic wipes out most of humanity. A grieving pilot and his dog are holed up at a remote airfield in Colorado, and a stray radio transmission pushes him out into a wrecked world to see if there is anything left worth living for — or anyone.

• The Dog Stars release date: March 27, 2026
• Cinematographer: Erik Messerschmidt (Mindhunter)
• Shot length: 34 days
• Approach: heavy multi-camera setup (eight cameras)
• Cast: Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Josh Brolin
• Based on: Peter Heller's novel The Dog Stars

What else Scott is cooking

He has a Bee Gees biopic in the pipeline, a western called Freewalkers, a World War I drama based on John Harris's Covenant with Death, and yes, talk of a third Gladiator movie.

Meanwhile, Gladiator II

If you missed it in theaters, Gladiator II lands on digital platforms on Christmas Eve. Cozy timing for an arena bloodbath.