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Russell Crowe says Gladiator II failed because ‘it didn’t have a moral core’

The Guardian UK Tuesday 16 June 2026, 11:01 UTC By Andrew Pulver 1 min read
Key Points

The star added that the original film appealed to a female audience ‘because it’s not about revenge, it is about vengeance’ – and because it didn’t have a gratuitous sex sceneRussell Crowe has said that the Gladiator sequel was a failure because it lacked a “moral core” and that studio behind it “didn’t understand why [the original movie] was successful”. Crowe was speaking at the Taormina film festival, and in remarks reported by Variety he outlined why the thought the first Gladiator,...

The star added that the original film appealed to a female audience ‘because it’s not about revenge, it is about vengeance’ – and because it didn’t have a gratuitous sex scene

Russell Crowe has said that the Gladiator sequel was a failure because it lacked a “moral core” and that studio behind it “didn’t understand why [the original movie] was successful”.

Crowe was speaking at the Taormina film festival, and in remarks reported by Variety he outlined why the thought the first Gladiator, released to considerable acclaim and box office success in 2000, was a success, and where its sequel, released in 2024, struggled.

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Russell Crowe (PERSON) Gladiator II (PERSON) Crowe (ORG) Taormina (LOCATION) Variety (ORG)
Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

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Russell Crowe says Gladiator II failed because ‘it didn’t have a moral core’

The star added that the original film appealed to a female audience ‘because it’s not about revenge, it is about vengeance’ – and because it didn’t have a gratuitous sex sceneRussell Crowe has said that the Gladiator sequel was a failure because it lacked a “moral core” and that studio behind it “didn’t understand why [the original movie] was successful”. Crowe was speaking at the Taormina film festival, and in remarks reported by Variety he outlined why the thought the first Gladiator,...

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