Russell Crowe will have his vengeance, in this life or the next.
On Saturday, the “Gladiator” star said he’s had enough of people asking him about the film’s sequel, which is currently in production but doesn’t include the actor among its cast.
“They should be fucking paying me for the amount of questions I get asked about the fucking film that I am not even in,” he reportedly said at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic. “I don’t know anything about the cast, I don’t know anything about the plot.”
The anticipated sequel has been in the works for some time. News broke in 2018 that the film was in development with Ridley Scott back in the director’s chair, but years passed before a 2024 release date was set. Meanwhile, Denzel Washington was cast to star opposite Paul Mescal.
In the original film, Crowe played a Roman general who was forced into slavery and seeks vengeance against a sinister emperor. His performance in the 2000 epic earned him an Oscar for Best Actor.
Asked Saturday about reprising his role, Crowe said: “In that world, I’m dead, six feet under. And that’s that.” Though he’s sitting out “Gladiator 2,” he added that he “couldn’t think of that movie being less than absolutely spectacular.”
“If Ridley has decided to do a second part … he will have really strong reasons,” the actor said.
Charles Sykes/Invision/Associated Press
Crowe was one of several celebrities honored at the Czech film festival. The New Zealand native was presented with a lifetime achievement award Friday and performed with his band Indoor Garden Party that evening.
But he also sparked controversy at the festival when he said his next film project is called “Nuremberg” and that he will play Hermann Göring, drawing gasps from the Eastern European crowd.
Göring was the highest-ranking Nazi official tried at the Nuremberg military tribunals in occupied Germany following World War II. He was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity before killing himself in his cell.
Crowe previously spoke about “Nuremberg” and his part in the film in March.
“That’s just gonna be very, very interesting,” he said on “The Ryan Tubridy Show.”
“I read the script a number of years ago and I really, really respected it,” he added.
Crowe said it took the film’s director “many years” to get the project financed due to its “uncomfortable subject.” But the actor promised that “psychologically, the drama that unfolds in the script is very intriguing.”