Russell Crowe says Gladiator II failed because it ‘lacked a moral foundation’ | Video

Russell Crowe has said that the Gladiator sequel was a failure because it lacked “good morals” and that the studio behind it “didn’t understand why (the original film) was successful”.

Crowe speaks at the Taormina film festival, and inside comments reported by Variety explained why the first idea Gladiator, release from high praise and a box office success in 2000, it did well, and its follow-up, released in 2024, struggled.

Crowe said his refusal to shoot sex scenes with Connie Nielsen, who played his beloved Lucilla, was his first betrayal. Gladiator his “emotional core”. “When we were shooting this film, there were many problems. The studio, the producers (decided) that there should be sex between Maximus and the female characters. I kept pushing back. This is the story of a man who avenges the death of his wife and child.

Crowe added that Ridley Scottwho directed both films, quit. “Fortunately for me, Ridley, even though he would have liked to have sex between me and Connie Nielsen, agreed with me at the time that that was the beginning of the film.”

Gladiator II, according to Crowe, failed to heed the lessons of the success of the first film, saying that women appreciated the original Gladiator and it was something that was important to its audience. “(The studio) failed because they didn’t understand why (the original movie) did so well – it had a good character.

“This is what a lot of people don’t realize: since the second week of its worldwide release, there are always more women in theaters than men. You think Gladiator is a men’s movie, but if it were a men’s movie, it would be about revenge, but not revenge.