It appears Ridley Scott may be on the, uh, outs with his longtime DP John Mathieson. The two collaborated on six films, including "Gladiator," "Matchstick Men," "Kingdom of Heaven," and most recently "Gladiator II,

Upon listening to his episode on the podcast in question, John Mathieson noticed the severe truncation of the talk he’d given to Nigel Levy. Gladiator II’s DP even noted that he could tell that it felt like quotes were rearranged and deleted that would have filled out the sentiment he’d expressed above.

The cinematographer for Gladiator 2 branded its director Ridley Scott "impatient" in a recent interview. John Mathieson, who worked with the renowned British director on both 2000's Gladiator and its 2024 sequel, criticized Scott's increasing reliance on CGI.