Russell Crowe wanted to keep spectators entertained.
While the Oscar-winning star of 2000’s Gladiator is not in the film’s follow-up, he did valiantly try to be. According to helmer Ridley Scott, Crowe wanted to reincarnate his character of Maximus, the brave Colosseum fighter who expires at the end of the original epic.
“Russell and I had a go at it around 18 years ago,” Scott told People in a recent interview. “I had Nick Cave writing the script and I kept saying [to Russell], ‘But you’re dead.’ And he said, ‘I know I’m dead. And I want to come back from the dead.’”
Indeed, according to a 2018 BBC article, musician Nick Cave was commissioned by Crowe to pen a sequel, purportedly telling the scribe to “sort [his death] out” in the new film. In the never-made-sequel, Maximus wakes in a purgatory of sorts filled with Roman gods who conscript his services in a revenge plot against another deity in exchange for a reunion with his long-deceased family (which Maximus longs for in the first film). The plot continues to wind chaotically through time and multiple planes of reality, as Maximus gets zapped back into the land of the living and is depicted battling in the Crusades, World Wars and Vietnam.
Crowe’s reaction, according to Cave, was succinct: “Don’t like it, mate.” However, the writer said, “I enjoyed writing it very much because I knew on every level that it was never going to get made.” In an interesting tidbit, the scrapped sequel actually featured a grown-up Lucius as well — only as an antagonist.
At the time, Scott also said he opted for a “portal to bring [Maximus] back from the dead,” explaining, “The only way of doing it was to go to another battle and through a dying warrior, he comes back into the spirit of the warrior. So that’s his portal.”
But the idea didn’t work for Crowe since it would still require casting a new actor in the reincarnated role. “He said, ‘So that’s no f—ing good, is it?’ It didn’t really work,” the Alien director recalled.
Ultimately, work didn’t get off the ground on a proper sequel until 2018, with Scott committing to making it his next film in 2022. But hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
In Gladiator, Maximus is a former Roman general-cum-slave forced to fight for his life in the Colosseum. After killing the despotic Roman Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) and rescuing former lover Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), he succumbs to his wounds ahead of the film’s close. Gladiator II follows now-adult Lucius (Paul Mescal), Maximus and Lucilla’s son, who faces a similar hero’s journey as he seeks vengeance against the Roman empire alongside a bid to restore democratic principles.
Nielsen and Derek Jacobi are the sole two stars of the original film to reprise their roles, with the new blockbuster also featuring Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn.
Since its theatrical debut Nov. 22, the film — part of the “Glicked” theatrical event opposite Jon M. Chu’s Wicked — has helped fuel a $205 million pre-Thanksgiving box office, the greatest in 11 years.
Scott has previously discussed Crowe’s lack of involvement in the follow-up, frankly stating: “I think [Crowe is] still one of the best actors in the world, and I think we have a good relationship. I hope we do. As long as he doesn’t start bitching about how he wasn’t consulted. Why would I? He’s dead!”
For his part, Crowe remarked earlier this year that he was “slightly uncomfortable” at the prospect of a sequel, given his lack of say: “I can’t say anything, it’s not my place, I’m six foot under. So we’ll see what that is like.”
Leading up to Gladiator II‘s premiere, Scott announced he’s “got the beginning of a very good footprint” on a threequel. Unfortunately for Crowe, it will likely not include him either.
