Russell Crowe wants you to know that Maximus is still dead in the Gladiator universe, and he knows nothing about the upcoming Russell Crowe-directed sequel.
During a recent appearance at Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Crowe said he is tired of hearing questions about the project, adding he should be making money for how much he deals with Gladiator 2 questions.
He tells journalists at the festival, “They should be fucking paying me for the amount of questions I am asked about a film I am not even in. 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.”
“I don’t know anything about the cast, I don’t know anything about the plot,” he adds. “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 Gladiator 2, Paul Mescal will play Lucius, the son of Lucilla as a grown man. Lucius also was the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the son of Roman leader Marcus Aurelius who murdered his father and seized the throne. The story will take place years after the first film ends, in which Lucius and Maximus meet during the first film’s conclusion.
The cast includes Mescal, Nielsen, Denzel Washington, Djimon Hounsou, Joseph Quinn, Derek Jacobi, and Pedro Pascal. The film is expected to premiere in cinemas on November 22, 2024.
Crowe will obviously not appear in the upcoming Gladiator sequel, but you can find him starring in this year’s Kraven the Hunter, out this fall.
