Russell Crowe has revealed that he is “not involved” in the upcoming action film Gladiator 2, but wishes lead actor Paul Mescal “the best of luck.”
The Academy award winner starred in the iconic 2000 film as Maximus – an ex-Greek general sold into slavery after his family was murdered, who sought revenge against the emperor who killed them.
Fans have speculated that Maximus will return to the film in a flashback, even though he died in the original movie. The new film follows Lucius (Paul Mescal), the son of Maximus and his lover Lucilla (Connie Nielsen). It is set to be released in 2024.
The Pope’s Exorcist actor revealed on The Ryan Turbidy Show that he is not involved in the sequel, since it “is long beyond Maximus’ passing.”
“I’m sure at some point in time they’ll want to ask me about something, but they haven’t brought anything up in a while,” Crowe explained. “It’s an extension of the narrative, but it is long beyond Maximus’ passing, so it doesn’t really involve me at all.”
The actor added that he thinks it’s a “smart idea” to pick up from Lucius being a young adult ready to take on the role of emperor.
“I think where they’re picking the story up from, a young Lucius, stepping into the role of emperor. I think that’s a very smart idea within the world of the film that we created,” Crowe admitted.
Crowe jokingly added that he doesn’t “want to dwell too much” on the film that premiered over 20 years ago because “he was significantly younger” and “the rose-colored glasses of that experience now are perfectly crystallised.”
“I look back on it and I loved every minute of it, and that wasn’t actually the case at the time,” the actor reflected. “I do like being on a period movie set. Stepping into those sorts of costumes and those sorts of situations and stuff, it has great appeal to me.”
He added: “There’s a slight edge of jealousy that people get to have that experience that I had once,” he shared.
In other news, Deadline revealed that the film will get a November 2024 release date to coincide with Thanksgiving in the US. The outlet reported that Paramount had dated the follow-up to arrive on November 22, 2024.
Meanwhile, Crowe is set to make his debut as Father Amorth in the new horror film The Pope’s Exorcist, premiering April 14.
Back in 2023, singer Nick Cave spoke of how his own screenplay for a Gladiator sequel didn’t make if off the ground, adding that he “knew on every level that it was never going to get made,” although he thought it was “a stone-cold masterpiece.”
“(Crowe) rang me up and asked if I wanted to write Gladiator 2,” Cave recalled. “For someone who had only written one film script, it was quite an ask. ‘Hey Russell, didn’t you die in Gladiator 1?’ ‘Yeah, you sort that out.’ So, he goes down to purgatory and is sent down by the gods, who are dying in heaven because there’s this one god, there’s this Christ character, down on Earth who is gaining popularity and so the many gods are dying so they send Gladiator back to kill Christ and his followers.”
He continued: “I wanted to call it Christ Killer and in the end you find out that the main guy was his son so he has to kill his son and he was tricked by the gods.”
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