Russell Crowe slams ‘Gladiator 2’ and explains what it got wrong
Russell Crowe has criticised Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 and claimed it lacked a “moral core”.
The long-awaited sequel starred Paul Mescal in the lead role as Lucius, the illegitimate son of Crowe’s character Maximus from the original movie.
While Gladiator 2, released in 2024, had a strong showing at the box office, it failed to live up to the critical acclaim which saw the original movie scoop up five Oscars, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Actor’ for Crowe.
During a new interview with Australian radio station Triple J, Crowe said, “I think the recent sequel, that we don’t have to name out loud, is a really unfortunate example of even the people in that engine room not actually understanding what made the first one special.”
He then highlighted why the first movie resonated with audiences far and wide, stating, “It wasn’t the pomp, it wasn’t the circumstance, it wasn’t the action. It was the moral core.”
Crowe then looked back on the filming process of the Oscar-winning original, revealing, “There was a daily fight on that set, there was a daily fight to keep that moral core of the character. The amount of times they suggested sex scenes and stuff like that for Maximus… you’re taking away his power.”
The iconic actor elaborated on his reluctance to involve Maximus in scenes of that nature, adding, “What are you talking about? At the same time, he had this relationship with his wife, he was fucking this other girl? What are you talking about? It’s crazy.”
Despite Crowe’s opinion on Gladiator 2, Scott confirmed in August that he’s already working on a third movie in the series, which is currently “in process”.
Additionally, Mescal previously revealed that he wants to star in another Gladiator movie, saying, “Oh yeah, massively down. I don’t think it will be [24] years — but I have no idea when it will be.”
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