In an in-depth interview with THR, producer Douglas Wick has revealed how a painting was key to bringing Ridley Scott on board to direct the 2000 movie Gladiator, as well as a number of other interesting facts about the making of the classic Roman epic.

From the beginning Wick, along with Dreamworks executive Walter F. Parkes, knew that Ridley Scott would be the best person to bring the epic story to life, after his previous successes with visually enthralling genre films.

"We brought Ridley a painting from the late 1800s of the Roman Colosseum," Wick said. "It was beautifully shaded, and because it was sort of in the blush of the British empire, it was slightly idealized. Ridley looked at the painting and said, 'I'll do the movie. Wherever the script is, we’ll get it right. I’m doing this movie.'"