Crowe won a Best Actor Oscar for playing the character of Maximus, who dies at the end of the 2000 original Russell Crowe doesn't return to the Colosseum in the long anticipated sequel to Gladiator — but it wasn't for a lack of trying.

Russell Crowe really wanted to be in Gladiator II, despite the obvious problem that his characters dies in the first movie. Indeed, long before the version of Gladiator II starring Paul Mescal was created, director Ridley Scott tried to find a way to bring ...

A highly-anticipated sequel to one of the most iconic blockbusters of all time is finally hitting the big screen this week, but will the original film’s star Russell Crowe make an appearance?

We examine the road to Gladiator II not taken in a 2001 screenplay by Nick Cave. Written at the behest of Russell Crowe, it "sorted out" Maximus being dead by beginning in the afterlife and ending with America's Vietnam

Now, director Ridley Scott is returning to ancient Rome with the long-awaited sequel, "Gladiator II" which hits theaters Friday. The film stars Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, and Pedro Pascal in a story set in the same brutal Roman Empire —one that didn't leave Scott's mind in the years since its first release.

Directing legend Ridley Scott, who won multiple Oscars for 2000's "Gladiator," says "Gladiator II" is ripe for "Gladiator III" trilogy treatment.