Russell Crowe Says ‘Gladiator II’ Failed Because Studios Didn’t Understand the Original’s Moral Core — and Calls His New Amazon ‘Highlander’ Reboot ‘Fantastic’ (opens in new tab)

Russell Crowe has delivered his most pointed verdict yet on Gladiator II — and it is not flattering. Speaking to Deadline at the Taormina Film Festival, where he was collecting an International Achievement Award, Crowe said the 2024 sequel “failed” because the filmmakers fundamentally misunderstood why the original became a phenomenon. “They failed, and they failed because they didn’t understand why it was successful, because it had a moral core,” Crowe told reporters. He traced that moral co...