Ridley Scott on ‘Napoleon’ and ‘Gladiator 2’

Ridley Scott‘s “Napoleon” was revered by the British critics and scored well at the European box office, but it found a muted stateside response. (The Metascore is 64 — respectable but not stellar.) During the awards race (ballots are due January 16 at 5 PM PT), the movie scored well with crafts — but the Golden Globes nominated Joaquin Phoenix for “Beau is Afraid,” not “Napoleon.”

All of this leaves the 86-year-old filmmaker waiting a while longer to return to the Best Director circle; his fourth nomination was in 2016 for “The Martian.” He caught up with us on Zoom at his vacation home in Provence before he wraps the last few weeks of post production on “Gladiator 2,” which will be released Thanksgiving weekend. He likes to skirt around some questions.

Anne Thompson: You’ve got to finish “Gladiator 2?”

Ridley Scott: This house belongs to a general Robert of Napoleon’s army. I didn’t know when I got it. I’ve been here 29 years. It’s a holiday house. But sometimes I do quite a lot of work and writing here. So I find it restful. No one bothers you, so you get locked down. I’ve now finished almost 85 percent of “Gladiator.” We were interrupted by the strike, so I lost four months. Otherwise, right now I’d be mixing it. I went back about four weeks ago after the strike and nearly finished before Christmas and I’ve got to go back 10 days to finish. It’s a real pain.