Russell Crowe admitted he wasn't a fan of the sequel to 'Gladiator,' claiming it didn't fit in with the original's morals.
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 24: Russell Crowe attends the "Nuremberg" premiere during 2025 AFI FEST at TCL Chinese Theater on October 24, 2025 in Hollywood, California. Speaking with Australian radio station Triple J on Monday, Crowe said, “I think the recent sequel that, you know, we don’t have to name out loud is a really unfortunate example of even the people in that engine room not actually understanding what made the first one special.
” He continued, “It wasn’t the pomp. It wasn’t the circumstance. It wasn’t the action. It was the moral core.” Ridley Scott directed both “Gladiator” and “Gladiator II,” with the latter starring Paul Mescal. Crowe does not appear in the sequel. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 20: Paul Mescal attends the "Gladiator II" New York Special Screening hosted by GQ and Paramount Pictures at The Whitby Hotel on November 20, 2024, in New York, New York. Looking back on his time filming the original, Crowe told the radio station he had a “daily fight” to uphold Maximus’ moral code, including rejecting sex scenes that violated the loyalty he held to his wife, who was murdered during the events of the film, along with his son. “It was a daily fight to keep that moral core of the character,” he explained. “The amount of times they suggested sex scenes and stuff like that for Maximus, it’s like – you’re taking away his power.”In “Gladiator II,” it’s revealed that Mescal’s character is in fact Maximus’ son, born from an affair between him and Lucilla , a former lover and sister to villain Commodus . “So you’re saying at the same time he had this relationship with his wife, he was f—king this other girl? What are you talking about? It’s crazy,” Crowe said of the plot line. Russell Crowe facing off against another man in a scene from the film 'Gladiator', 2000. The sequel, which also starred Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal, earned a single nomination for Best Costume Design at the 2025 Oscars.After a night of heavy rain, lingering flooding -- both the urban and river version -- are causing issues in western Washington.A mudslide has blocked the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 just east of North Bend.The highway has been closed since about midnight Monday, and the WashingtonWitnesses say a road rage incident is what may have sparked the murder of a 14-year-old behind the wheel of a car in Tacoma.Concerns of major flooding along the Puyallup River are starting to rise in the south Sound.Communities along the Skagit River, from Sedro Woolley to Mount Vernon, are on high alert as two atmospheric rivers threaten major flooding.Mount Vernon's Mayo
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