Nor did Spartacus die by crucifixion as the film depicts. He was actually killed in battle and hacked into pieces on the battlefield. However, six thousand of his followers were later crucified along the Appian Way. As a director-for-hire, Kubrick discovered he had to bow to the wishes of his producer.
Spartacus happened because producer Eddie Lewis brought the Howard Fast novel to Douglas's attention, and he optioned the book, seeing its potential to become a popular epic. He hoped to interest United Artists in the film, but they were planning their own version of the tale called The Gladiators which was to be directed by Martin Rittand star Yul Brynner and Anthony Quinn with a script by Abe Polonsky. Howard Fast was given first crack at adapting the material into a screenplay, but his work had a political axe to grind and was quickly rejected.
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