Wick. They showed him a copy of Jean-Léon Gérôme's 1872 painting entitled Pollice Verso (Thumbs Down). Scott was enticed by filming the world of Ancient Rome. However, Scott felt Franzoni's dialogue was too "on the nose" (lacking subtlety) and hired John Logan to rewrite the script to his liking. Logan rewrote much of the first act and made the decision to kill off Maximus's family to increase the character's motivation. By the time the script was being revised and the production crew was being assembled, DreamWorks began circling several potential partners to help cover the film's budget and costs. Co-financing between studios became increasingly common during the late-1990s as production and marketing costs and the potential for losses spiralled upward. DreamWorks saw success with its split-rights deals as the studio shared financing and distribution for the 1998 films Saving Private Ryan and Deep Impact with Paramount Pictures. On November 12, 1998, Variety reported that Universal Pictures reached a deal with DreamWorks to help finance the film, as well as obtaining international distribution rights and splitting worldwide proceeds 50–50 with DreamWorks, who would distribute the film in North America. Casting While writing the script, Franzoni expressed interest in Antonio Banderas as the lead role, but he declined. Mel Gibson, Tom Sizemore, and Tom Cruise were also considered for the film, but the producers and studio had Russell Crowe at the top of their list after his breakout performance in L.A. Confidential (1997). Crowe was initially hesitant to take the role due to gaining forty pounds for The Insider (1999), but director Michael Mann convinced the actor to take the role. He would eventually sign on to play the main character in September 1998. Crowe would state that he was pitched by Parkes without the script finished. In his interview for Inside the Actors Studio: "They said, 'It's a 100-million-dollar film. You're being directed by Ridley Scott. You play a Roman General.' I've always been a big fan of Ridley's." For the role of Commodus, Jude Law auditioned for the role, but Scott intended to cast Joaquin Phoenix as his choice for the role. Jennifer Lopez reportedly lobbied for the role of Lucilla, but lost the role to Connie Nielsen. Crowe initially suggested his Insider costar Christopher Plummer for the role of Marcus Aurelius before Richard Harris was cast in the role. From there, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi,