Russell Crowe starred in Ridley Scott’s first Gladiator movie released in 2000. However, he did not return when Ridley Scott helmed the 2024 sequel. After all, his character was no longer alive. Of course, fans might still want to know what Russell Crowe thought of the sequel, but it turns out he has very negative feelings regarding Gladiator 2.
Crowe shared these thoughts while speaking in an interview with Triple J via The Playlist. He began by referring to the film, albeit not by name, and how no one involved knew what made the first film work so well. Here’s what he shared on that front:
“I think the recent sequel that, you know, we don’t have to name out loud [referring to “Gladiator 2”], is a really unfortunate example of even the people in that engine room not actually understanding what made the first one special,” Crowe began. “It wasn’t the pomp. It wasn’t the circumstance. It wasn’t the action. It was the moral core.”
It seems as though many of his issues revolving around that is how Paul Mescal’s Lucius is revealed to be his character’s son in the divisive follow-up. He believes that the affair between his character and Lucius’s mother Lucilla from the original film “makes no sense to me.”
He elaborated:
“The thing is, there was a daily fight on that set. It was a daily fight to keep that moral core of the character,” he said. “The amount of times they suggested sex scenes and stuff like that for Maximus, it’s like you’re taking away his power. So you’re saying at the same time he had this relationship with his wife, he was f***ing this other girl? What are you talking about? It’s crazy.”
While some fans share Crowe’s feelings on the film, Gladiator 2 still made a profit at the box office. As such, it looks like there have already been talks for Gladiator 3, so we could see a continuation of this storyline regardless of Crowe’s thoughts. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them.