Russell Crowe admits he’s ‘slightly jealous’ of ‘Gladiator 2’

It is hard to imagine anything could top playing supreme Greek deity Zeus, but Russell Crowe confessed to feeling a little green with envy about the highly anticipated Gladiator 2. 

Per Collider, the Kiwi actor tenderly reminisced about the transformative experience of playing Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator, and his feelings about the upcoming sequel.

“The only thing that I really feel about it is slightly jealous, you know? Because I was a much younger man, obviously, and it was a huge experience in my life. It’s something that changed my life, really. It changed the way people regarded me and what I do for a living, and, you know, I’ve been very lucky to be involved in lots of big movies, but the legs on that film are incredible.

Here it is, it’s 2023, and we made that film in 1999. I guarantee you, somewhere around the world tonight, Gladiator is going to be showing on primetime TV. And you don’t always get that kind of longevity with every film you do, so, it obviously holds a special place in my heart.”

The original Gladiator raked in $460 million at the box office, earned 12 Academy Award nominations, and saw Crowe win the coveted Oscar for Best Actor. 

The plot of the sequel is under wraps. However, it will tell the story of Lucius (Paul Mescal), the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), as a young man. The first chapter implied that Maximus secretly fathered Lucius, and he was next in the line of succession to his uncle Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). However, with Barry Keoghan tapped to play the adversarial Emperor Geta, the plot may hinge on Lucius’s lost birthright. 

Two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington is in talks to join the cast of Gladiator 2 in a role that was tailor-made for him. Although Washington is famously allergic to blockbusters, he was drawn to the project by the allure of David Scarpa’s powerful screenplay. Moreover, Washington has a successful history with director Ridley Scott, with whom he made American Gangster.

It will be exciting to see what direction Scott takes with a sequel made almost a quarter century after the first film. The substance and spectacle of Gladiator film has stood the test of time. With the new technology available today, there is no doubt that the follow-up will be a mind-blowing experience.