Russell Crowe has repeatedly stated that neither Ridley Scott nor anyone involved with “Gladiator 2” reached out to him to consult on the upcoming sequel considering the follow-up’s storyline has little to do with the character he played in the 2000 original. Crowe won an Oscar for “Gladiator,” but his character, Maximus, died at the end of the movie. Scott recently told Empire magazine (via ScreenRant) that he hopes his relationship with Crowe is still in good shape after not reaching out about “Gladiator 2.”
“The plot, frankly, was right under our noses,” Scott said about the sequel. “I think it was so close under our noses that we thought it was too simple. I think [Russell Crowe] is still one of the best actors in the world, and I think we have a good relationship. I hope we do. As long as he doesn’t start bitching about how he wasn’t consulted. Why would I? He’s dead!”
There was a time when Scott contemplated bringing Crowe’s Maximus back from the dead for “Gladiator 2,” but the story ideas were often deemed too “ridiculous” to put into production. One script that was written was Nick Cave’s infamous “Gladiator 2: Christ Killer,” which featured Maximus breaking out of purgatory on a mission to kill Christ. Scott said he and Cave did a “reasonable presentation for DreamWorks” on the script but “it never got further.” He’d ultimately find the right story for a “Gladiator” sequel with his “All the Money in the World” screenwriter David Scarpa.
“Gladiator 2” stars Paul Mescal as Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and the nephew of Commodus, the original film’s antagonist played by Joaquin Phoenix. The sequel picks up years later with Lucius now living in the northern African region of Numidia, where he was sent by his mother as a child as it was just outside the reach of the Roman Empire. Events bring Lucius back to Rome as a gladiator, where he makes new enemies and reunites with his mother.
Mescal said in an interview with Esquire UK last year that he did not get in contact with Crowe regarding the sequel, adding: “I don’t know what we would talk about. Like, I’d love to hear his stories from filming, but [my] character is, like, totally separate.”
Crowe never expected Mescal to contact him either given Maximus’ death at the end of the original “Gladiator.” At last year’s Karlovy Film Festival, Crowe even urged the press to stop asking him about the “Gladiator” sequel.
“They should be fucking paying me for the amount of questions I am asked about a film I am not even in,” Crowe said. “It has nothing to do with me. In that world, I am dead. Six feet under. But I do admit to a certain tinge of jealousy, because it reminds me of when I was younger and what it meant for me, in my life.”
He continued, “I don’t know anything about the cast, I don’t know anything about the plot. I am dead! But I know that if Ridley has decided to do a second part of the story, over 20 years later, he must have had very strong reasons. I can’t think of this movie being anything other than spectacular.”
In an interview on “Kyle Meredith With…” earlier this year, Crowe said he was “slightly uncomfortable” with “Gladiator 2” since “I have no say in what gets done” because his character died.
“A couple of things that I’ve heard, I’m like, ‘No, no, no. That’s not in the moral journey of that particular character.’ But you know, I can’t say anything,” he added at the time. “That’s not my place. I’m six feet under. So we’ll see what that is like.”
Outside of “Gladiator 2,” Crowe and Scott have worked together on several projects such as “Robin Hood,” “A Good Year” and “American Gangster.” The “Gladiator” sequel opens in theaters Nov. 22 from Paramount Pictures.
