In 2000, “Gladiator” stormed into theaters around the world and instantly became one of the most watched productions of the year, earning a total of $ 460 million. The title character is the Roman general Maximus, who loses everything due to the actions of Emperor Commodus one day. He becomes a slave-gladiator and is forced to fight in the arena, where his own life is at stake. This character was played by Russell Crowe in the film.
The script almost left the set of “Gladiator”
This role opened the door for him to other premier league productions. In addition, in 2001 he was honored with an Oscar in the category “Best Actor in a Leading Role”. However, it has recently come to light that the actor, influenced by his decisions, may never have achieved this success. In an interview with Vanity Fair, he confessed that he almost quit the role of General Maximus because he thought the script was “total bullshit.” At the same time, he emphasized that he was not stressed about playing the main character.
What I wasn’t sure about Gladiator was the world around me. Right in the middle of what we were doing was a great idea. But the script was crap, absolute crap,” said Russell Crowe.
Later in the conversation, he mentioned that several times he was on the verge of boarding a plane to leaving the set. He later explained that what he didn’t like about the script was the so-called strange sequences. “One was about chariots and how famous gladiators used certain types of chariots and some famous fighters had endorsement deals for products like olive oil and stuff like that. And that’s all true, it was, but it won’t seem so contemporary audience […] The energy around what we were doing was very chaotic.”
However, when the film’s director Ridley Scott saw the actor’s hesitation, he decided to convince him to stay on the project. Further work on the script also began, which made Crowe decide to give “Gladiator” a chance. “When we started this film, we had 21 pages of the script that we all accepted. A script is usually 103 to 110 pages. So we had a long way to go and we basically used up those pages in the first part of the film. So by the time we got to our second set in Morocco , we had to catch up,” said Russell Crowe, emphasizing that he was finally convinced to stay in “Gladiator” by the director’s words: “Dude, we’re not going to make anything you don’t believe in 100 percent.”
New “Gladiator” in cinemas next year
All fans of films set in the times of the Roman Empire are probably looking forward to next year, when the continuation of the famous “Gladiator” will be released in cinemas. The premiere of the film was announced on November 22, 2024, but this time the main role will be played by Paul Mescal, whom we can associate with the series “Normal People” or the movie “Aftersun”.
Russell Crowe will not take part in this production, and in one of the interviews he confessed that he is “a bit jealous” about it, because the first “Gladiator” had the greatest influence on his fate. “It’s something that really changed my life. It changed the way people saw me and the way I make a living. I’m lucky enough to have been in a lot of big movies, but what this movie gave me was It’s amazing,” said the actor.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
