Russell Crowe says 'Gladiator II' failed because it lacked original film's 'moral core'

Russell Crowe is opening up about his career-defining role and why he thinks efforts to replicate the magic of the film with a sequel failed.

During a panel at the Taormina Film Festival, the 62-year-old actor spoke about the sequel to "Gladiator," noting he believed it was unsuccessful because it was missing the "moral core" of the original 2000 movie, per Variety.

"When we were shooting that film, there was a lot of pressure. The studio, the producers [thought] there should be sex between Maximus and the female characters.