Megan Thee Stallion and dancers walk toward camera

Make Your Gameday Epic

Collaborating with director Jake Scott from RSA Films, our global VFX teams, led by VFX Supervisor Jules Janaud, seamlessly blended the world of the NFL with ancient Rome.

Tiger roaring in Pepsi Gladiator ad

Ahead of the 2024 NFL Regular Season and in anticipation of “Gladiator II”, Pepsi Unleashes “Make Your Gameday Epic,” Featuring “We Will Rock You” by Megan Thee Stallion.

After ordering a couple of cans of Pepsi in a bar, actors Jake Lacy and Lamorne Morris are transported to the Roman Empire, where they find themselves in a dramatic gladiator fight in the Colosseum. Waiting for them are NFL players, Travis Kelce, Josh Allen, Derrick Henry and Justin Jefferson. Overseeing the games, which is complete with two tigers, is rapper Megan Thee Stallion before the Colosseum's sandy floor is swept away to reveal an NFL field.

Our team created and animated two photorealistic tigers, reconstructed a fully CG Colosseum, developed FX destruction, and composited over 140 complex VFX shots for this adrenaline-filled, unique project for Pepsi

Gladiator II hits theaters November 22nd featuring visual effects by our film team led by VFX Supervisor Christian Kaestner, VFX Producer Jeanne Elise Prevost and with Pre-production Services’ postviz led by Postvis Supervisor Darrin Hofmeyr.



Credits

Production Company
RSA Films
Director
Jake Scott
VFX
Framestore
VFX Supervisor and On Set Supervisor
Jules Janaud
Comp Supervisor
Matthew Thomas
CG Supervisor
Erik Weaver-Pronk
Creative Director
Kamen Markov
On Set Supervisors
Mark Breakspear, Victor Tretyakov
On Set Data Wrangler
Matthew Whittaker
Rigging Supervisor
Brad Noble
Groom & CFX Supervisor
Gabriela Ruch Salmeron
Animation Supervisor
Brad Silby
CG Lead Character Supervisor
Billy Butler
CG Senior Character Modeler
Khaled Sabry
CG Asset Generalist
Florian Rigollet, Justine Lecat, Youran Lyu
CG Rigging
Nathan Clark
CG Groom Artist
Clara Simone
CG Groom & CFX Artist
Natasha Santiparp
CG CFX Artist
Eric Hiller, Jack Hubbard
CG CFX Intern
Nolwenn Raballand
CG Senior FX Artist
Justin Braun
CG Lead Crowd FX Artist
Alec Iselin
CG FX Artist
Owain Peake, Alfredo Santoriello
CG FX Intern
Milo Boot
CG Layout Supervisor
Gowri Shankar Gopinathan
CG Layout
Richard Klein, Gary Seto, Oliver Caldwell
CG Senior Animator
Adam Bailey, Bharat Gour, Emma Ewing
CG Animator
Benjamin Lane
CG Senior Lighting Artist
Finella Fan, Robert Connor, Federico Ghirlanda
CG Lighting Artist
Claudio Tassone, Johannes Sambs
Senior Digital Matte Painter
Harry Wormald
Roto and Prep Supervisor
Melvin Pillai
Senior Compositor
Suzanne Jandu, Pau Viladot, Olivier Jezequel, Jon Uriarte Sastre, Sam Meisels, Ricardo Melo, Aitor Echeveste, Pim Meijer
Compositor
Hakon Loberg, Erkin Ozturk, Simon Stoney
Head of Editorial
Humberto Reynaga
VFX Editor
Andrew Fineberg, Roberta Corfu
Flame Online
Paul O’Brien
Executive Producer
Anna MacDonald
Producer
Jake Saunders
VFX Coordinator
Robyn Borrageiro
Production Assistant
Jamie Scott
Colourist
Jean-Clément Soret & Matthieu Toullet
Senior Colour Producer
Ellora Soret
Editorial
Assembly Rooms
Editor
Jim Wheedon