Russell Crowe says the Gladiator sequel he was first offered was ‘pretty dumb’
Russell Crowe has now explained why he binned an early Gladiator sequel pitch for Maximus — branding the idea “pretty dumb” without sugar-coating a thing.
Right, so Russell Crowe and Gladiator — a combination that’s become glued together over the past couple of decades, with Crowe’s Maximus still looming large in the minds of anyone who’s actually seen a sword-and-sandals flick recently. Crowe’s now talking about why he knocked back an early sequel idea, and to be blunt, the man didn’t mince his words about it.
Sequels: Crowe’s General Rule
After Gladiator went bananas at the box office in 2000 (and if you have any faith in Rotten Tomatoes, was also a massive hit with proper film critics), fans kept asking whether we’d ever see Crowe’s Maximus again. The answer, for ages, was a resounding ‘no’. Crowe’s not exactly known for milking his most famous roles with follow-ups, not for Gladiator and not for Master and Commander either. Turns out that was very much by design. Speaking to ScreenRant, he explained he’d grown up at a time when sequels tended to be, well, a bit pants. Studios, he reckoned, were generally more worried about cashing in than actually making decent films.
Explaining his old-school approach to sequels, Crowe told ScreenRant: "It definitely was conscious for the first 20 or 30 years, where, because I grew up in an era where a sequel was always, a really bad version of the first one."
To be fair, the man’s mellowed a bit about sequels lately. He pointed out some have reached ‘iconic’ status on their own — though if you ask me, the list is still pretty short. He also let on that there were a few characters he’d have enjoyed taking for another spin, singling out Gabriel Moorth from The Pope’s Exorcist (your guess is probably as good as mine) and Jack Aubrey from Master and Commander.
The ‘Dumb’ Gladiator Sequel
But the real meat here is that Crowe has now admitted a Gladiator sequel nearly happened with him involved, way back in the day — and he thought the pitch was, in his own diplomatic way, a total clanger. He’s more open to the idea of a sequel nowadays, but back then, the actual plan they brought him was, well, let’s just say he was not best pleased.
Crowe put it this way: "Now I wouldn't have been so negative about a gladiator sequel back, you know, as I was back in the day. But I have to sort of put that in perspective, right? In that situation the solution that they originally came to me with was pretty dumb."
His recollection of hearing the idea? He basically told them it was like they’d wandered into the wrong book entirely and didn’t see the point in pursuing it. Crowe said he didn’t really agree with any of it at the time, so no surprise, the project never went anywhere. He’s a bit more philosophical these days, seeing the value in letting certain fictional characters have a bit of a life beyond one film. Still, that original Gladiator 2 concept? Absolutely dead on arrival as far as he was concerned.
Of course, Gladiator II finally materialised in 2024, but Maximus stayed in the ground and a whole new set of faces turned up — Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, and Denzel Washington all got stuck in, with Ridley Scott back at the helm.
Gladiator II landed in cinemas in 2024, shifting the saga to an entirely new cast and era.
But as Crowe’s made quite clear, whatever we got in the end wasn’t remotely what was on the cards during those early, scrapped sequel talks. And apparently, all for the better.
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