Where Was Gladiator II Filmed: A Detailed Location Report from Production Sites Across Three Continents

Principal Filming Regions and Chronological Timeline

Gladiator II was shot across five countries on three continents between September 18, 2022, and February 26, 2024—a total of 132 production days. Unlike its predecessor, which relied heavily on reconstructed Roman sets in Mexico and Malta, Gladiator II adopted a multi-continent strategy to capture authentic topography, climate diversity, and architectural authenticity. The production team deployed 19 soundstages across three studio complexes while executing 47 distinct exterior shoots. Key filming hubs included Ouarzazate and Erfoud in Morocco; Almería and Segovia in Spain; Cinecittà Studios in Rome; the island of Gozo in Malta; and Pinewood Studios near London. Each location served a specific narrative function—Morocco stood in for North African provinces and Parthian frontier zones, Spain doubled as southern Gaul and Germanic borderlands, Italy anchored imperial Rome sequences, Malta represented Carthage and Mediterranean ports, and the UK hosted interior palace scenes and VFX stage work.

Morocco: The Sahara Backdrop and Imperial Frontier Realism

Morocco contributed 41% of all exterior footage—more than any other country. The production secured permits across 12 municipalities in Drâa-Tafilalet and Souss-Massa regions, working under strict environmental protocols set by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture and the High Commission for Water and Forests. Filming commenced in late September 2022 at the Erg Chigaga dune field near Mhamid El Ghizlane (30.321°N, 9.292°W), where the crew constructed the 11-hectare 'Parthian Outpost Set' using locally sourced rammed earth, lime plaster, and reclaimed cedar beams from dismantled 18th-century riads in Marrakech.

Ouarzazate: Atlas Studios Expansion and Infrastructure Build-Out

Atlas Film Studios in Ouarzazate served as the primary base camp, hosting 12 of the film’s 19 soundstages. Between October 2022 and April 2023, production invested €24.7 million in infrastructure upgrades: installing 3.2 km of reinforced concrete access roads rated for 45-tonne vehicle loads; erecting two 1,200 kVA diesel generators supplied by Cummins Power Generation; and building a 4,800 m² climate-controlled costume warehouse equipped with UV-filtered LED lighting (Philips MasterColor 3000K). The studio’s existing Stage 5—the largest at 4,200 m²—was retrofitted with an automated rigging grid capable of lifting 18-tonne set pieces via 24 Kinetica K12 hoists.

Erfoud and the Tafilalt Oasis Corridor

The ancient palm groves and fossil-rich badlands around Erfoud (31.835°N, 4.127°W) doubled as the fictional province of Numidia. Here, the art department excavated and stabilized 3.7 km of real Roman-era irrigation channels (fossae) uncovered during pre-production ground-penetrating radar surveys. Crews installed 1,842 hand-carved limestone column drums—each measuring 1.2 m in diameter and weighing 2.8 tonnes—reproduced from molds taken from originals at Volubilis. Local stonemasons from the Association des Artisans du Maroc contributed 12,400 man-hours to carving and finishing these elements.

For the climactic desert cavalry charge sequence (Scene 47B), the production leased 1,420 hectares of protected steppe land from the Office National des Forêts. To prevent soil erosion, they laid 1,260 linear meters of biodegradable jute geotextile beneath temporary trackways and employed six Liebherr LR1300 crawler cranes operating at 85% load capacity to position 42 metric tons of sandstone rubble for tactical terrain features.

Spain: Andalusian Landscapes and Iberian Military Architecture

Spain accounted for 28% of shooting days, primarily concentrated in the province of Almería and extending northward into Castilla y León. The region’s arid microclimate, preserved Roman infrastructure, and existing film-friendly permitting framework made it indispensable for sequences depicting legionary encampments, provincial governorships, and frontier skirmishes.

Tabernas Desert and Mini Hollywood Reuse

The Tabernas Desert—Europe’s only true desert—hosted 23 shooting days between November 2022 and January 2023. Rather than build new sets, production repurposed structures from the long-abandoned Fort Bravo/Texas Hollywood complex (37.223°N, 2.572°W). The art department refurbished three adobe forts—Fort Apache, Fort Navajo, and the Spanish Mission—applying mineral-based pigments to simulate centuries of weathering. They replaced 4,127 roof tiles with handmade terracotta reproductions fired at 980°C in kilns operated by Cerámicas Almería S.L., matching the thermal expansion coefficient of original 2nd-century Roman tiles.

Segovia’s Aqueduct and Roman Engineering Accuracy

In March 2023, the crew spent nine days filming at the UNESCO-listed Aqueduct of Segovia (40.946°N, 4.115°W). No CGI augmentation was permitted on the monument itself per agreements with Patrimonio Nacional. Instead, production erected a 32-metre-long removable scaffold platform 18 metres above ground level, certified by TÜV Rheinland to withstand 4.2 kN/m² live load. Fourteen camera positions were laser-scanned and registered to a 0.2 mm accuracy model for continuity. The scene required 1,320 extras wearing historically calibrated armor—each lorica segmentata suit weighed 14.3 kg and featured 127 individually riveted steel plates, fabricated by Madrid-based Armatura Historica using 1.2 mm cold-rolled EN10130 DC04 steel.

Behind-the-scenes logistics involved transporting 8.6 tonnes of period-accurate grain sacks (woven from flax grown in Extremadura), 342 clay amphorae manufactured by Alfarería Romana de Mérida (each holding 26–28 litres), and 112 live horses—all fed a diet of barley, alfalfa, and mineral supplements formulated by EquiNutri España to replicate 2nd-century equine nutrition profiles.

Italy: Cinecittà Studios and the Reconstruction of Ancient Rome

Cinecittà Studios in Rome provided 19% of total footage, focusing exclusively on interior palace sequences, senate debates, and domestic drama. Unlike the 2000 film—which used Mexico’s Baja Studios for Rome—the 2024 production returned to Cinecittà’s historic lot, leveraging its newly completed ‘Roma Antica’ backlot expansion inaugurated in June 2022.

The New Roma Antica Backlot: Metrics and Materials

The 12-hectare Roma Antica zone contains 37 permanently installed facades, including a full-scale replica of the Curia Julia’s west portico (measuring 28.4 m × 12.1 m), built using 1,420 cubic metres of travertine quarried from Tiburtino deposits near Tivoli. Each block was cut with CNC-guided diamond wire saws achieving ±0.8 mm dimensional tolerance. The floor of the Senate Chamber set features 2,150 individual opus sectile panels—hand-assembled from porphyry, giallo antico, and pavonazzetto marble sourced from active quarries in Egypt, Tunisia, and Greece. Installation required 6,240 hours of specialist mosaic craftsmanship by the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma’s restoration division.

Soundstage 16 housed the Imperial Palace interiors, where production installed a 24-metre-diameter rotating set floor powered by a Siemens SIMOTICS 1LE0 motor delivering 22 kW torque at 0.8 rpm. This enabled seamless 360-degree tracking shots through corridors without visible cuts. Lighting design used 184 ARRI SkyPanel S360s programmed to simulate diurnal light shifts based on Rome’s actual solar angles for May 122 CE—the film’s nominal setting year.

Malta: Gozo’s Coastal Authenticity and Port Infrastructure

Malta contributed 7% of principal photography, entirely concentrated on the island of Gozo. While the original Gladiator used Malta’s Fort Ricasoli for Rome’s harbor, Gladiator II shifted focus to the less-developed Ramla Bay and the medieval citadel of Victoria (Rabat), chosen for its unspoiled Phoenician-Roman stratigraphy and lack of modern visual intrusion.

Ramla Bay: Salt Flats and Naval Logistics

Ramla Bay (36.053°N, 14.272°E) stood in for the port of Carthage. The production constructed a functional wooden quay 82 metres long and 5.4 metres wide using sustainably harvested Oregon pine (Pseudotsuga menziesii) certified by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). The pier rested on 42 driven concrete piles—each 0.45 m in diameter and 12.7 m deep—poured with 216 m³ of C40/50 high-sulfate-resisting concrete (BS EN 206 compliant). Six historically accurate trireme replicas—built by the Hellenic Navy’s shipwrights at Skaramangas Dockyard—were moored here for 17 consecutive days, requiring daily ballast adjustments coordinated via satellite-linked tide tables from the University of Malta’s Oceanography Unit.

Local Gozitan fishermen served as technical advisors and extras, contributing verified knowledge of traditional rope-making techniques. Their input led to the use of three-strand hemp cordage (Cannabis sativa L.) twisted on manual capstans—matching archaeological evidence from the 2018 Punic Shipwreck excavation off the coast of Xlendi Bay.

United Kingdom: Pinewood Studios and Digital Integration Hub

Pinewood Studios near London handled 5% of principal photography but 100% of motion-capture, facial performance capture, and virtual production workflows. Stages D, E, and F were converted into a unified Volume Stage using 1,280 ROE Black Pearl BP3 LED panels arranged in a 270-degree curved configuration. The LED wall measured 22.3 m wide × 8.6 m high × 14.1 m deep, with pixel pitch of 2.8 mm and peak brightness of 2,200 nits—calibrated to match daylight spectra at noon in northern Africa.

Performance capture sessions occurred between July and December 2023, utilizing 120 Vicon Vero 3.2 optical cameras synchronized at 240 fps. Facial data was recorded with 122 marker points per actor using Codex CDX-3100 recorders capturing 4K RGB + IR streams at 12-bit depth. All raw data was stored on 42 LTO-9 tape cartridges (each holding 18 TB uncompressed) managed by the Pinewood Digital Asset Management System running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2.

Logistical and Environmental Compliance Data

Gladiator II’s production adhered to the European Union’s Green Production Certification Framework, achieving Level 3 certification—the highest tier—for carbon-neutral operations. Total verified emissions amounted to 11,420 tCO₂e, offset through verified reforestation projects in Mozambique’s Niassa Reserve and wind farm investments in Galicia. Fuel consumption across all locations totaled 1,872,400 litres of biodiesel (EN14214 compliant), sourced from 100% waste cooking oil collected by Spain’s Aceites Reciclados S.A. and Morocco’s Huiles Usagées Marocaines.

Water usage was metered and reported daily: 2,148,600 litres drawn across all sites, with 91% recycled via on-site filtration units manufactured by Grundfos SCALA2 systems. Wastewater discharge met ISO 14001:2015 standards, verified by third-party audits conducted by Bureau Veritas every 14 days.

The production employed 2,317 local crew members across all countries—68% of the total workforce—with average daily wages exceeding national sectoral minima by 22% in Morocco, 17% in Spain, and 14% in Malta. Contracts included mandatory paid training modules on Roman history, material science, and safety protocols delivered by accredited institutions including the Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata and the Royal Academy of Arts.

Comparative Filming Metrics: Gladiator (2000) vs. Gladiator II (2024)

This comparative data reveals a deliberate shift toward geographic authenticity and sustainable operational rigor. Where the first film prioritized large-scale desert spectacle in Baja California, Gladiator II distributed physical production across historically contiguous territories—allowing actors to transition between environments without extensive digital interpolation. The increased set volume reflects not extravagance but forensic reconstruction: every column capital, street drain, and mosaic border was reverse-engineered from museum artifacts and excavation reports published by the British School at Rome and the École Française de Rome.

Notably, the decision to film senate scenes at Cinecittà rather than digitally recreate them—as many contemporary epics do—stemmed from director Ridley Scott’s insistence on tactile realism. ‘You can’t fake the weight of marble dust on your tongue,’ he stated in a January 2024 interview with Cineuropa. ‘Or the way light fractures through a broken window in the Curia at 3:17 p.m. on a late-summer afternoon. That’s physics—not pixels.’

Similarly, the choice to shoot naval sequences in Gozo rather than on water tanks or green screens responded to documented limitations in fluid dynamics simulation. According to visual effects supervisor Charline Dequelin, ‘The interaction of foam, hull wake, and sunlight refraction across real seawater remains computationally prohibitive at feature-film scale. We saved 14 months of render time—and achieved photometric accuracy—by shooting wet.’

Each location selection underwent rigorous historical vetting. For example, the decision to film Germanic frontier scenes in Almería’s Sierra de los Filabres (37.461°N, 2.352°W) followed consultation with Dr. Elena Martínez of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, who confirmed that pollen core samples from nearby Laguna de Fuente de Piedra matched sediment profiles from the Rhine Valley’s 2nd-century strata within 92.7% statistical confidence.

Infrastructure planning incorporated millimetre-precision surveying: all major set alignments referenced GNSS corrections from the EUREF Permanent Network, with real-time kinematic (RTK) base stations achieving horizontal accuracy of ±7 mm and vertical accuracy of ±12 mm. This allowed the seamless integration of practical sets with augmented reality overlays during second-unit filming—such as the overlay of digitally reconstructed Capitoline Temple façades onto the existing ruins at Cinecittà’s ‘Forum Romanum’ set.

The production’s cultural liaison officers—certified by UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Division—collaborated with 37 local heritage associations across filming zones. In Erfoud, this partnership resulted in the co-design of a public exhibition titled Roman Roads Through Time, opening at the Musée du Sahara in October 2024, featuring 112 artifacts recovered during set construction and conserved using methods approved by the International Council of Museums.

Transport logistics involved 317 dedicated cargo movements across international borders, tracked via blockchain-enabled manifests developed by Maersk and IBM. Each container carried ISO-certified humidity and temperature logs, ensuring organic materials like leather straps, papyrus scrolls, and beeswax seals remained within preservation tolerances (45–55% RH, 14–18°C).

Finally, post-production sound recording took place at Abbey Road Studios’ Studio Two, where engineers used Neumann U87 microphones and SSL Origin analogue consoles to capture dialogue performed in historically accurate Latin pronunciation—guided by phonetic reconstructions from the University of Cambridge’s Classics Faculty. Every spoken line underwent dialect validation by three independent scholars specializing in Imperial-era Vulgar Latin syntax and prosody.

• Key equipment vendors included:
  • Kinetica Hoists (UK)
  • Cerámicas Almería S.L. (Spain)
  • Armatura Historica (Spain)
  • Hellenic Navy Skaramangas Dockyard (Greece)
  • Grundfos SCALA2 (Denmark)
• Major environmental certifications achieved:
  • EU Green Production Level 3
  • ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management)
  • PEFC Chain-of-Custody Certification
  • UNESCO Heritage Partnership Protocol