Russell Crowe has said he believes the 2024 sequel to Gladiator didn’t garner as strong a reception as its predecessor because it lacked a "moral code." On Saturday (June 13), 26 years after the release of Gladiator , Crowe spoke at the Taormina Film Festival about his experience working on the Academy Award-winning film, while also explaining why he felt Gladiator II "failed" to connect with viewers. In the clip below, the Australian actor revealed that he protested planned sex scenes for his character of Maximus in the first film, believing that it was unrealistic for a man mourning the loss of his wife. "There cannot be a moment on that journey where he stops and has sex with somebody. It doesn’t make any sense… that destroys the journey," Crowe said. While production "fought" Crowe on his stance, director Ridley Scott agreed with his leading man and refrained from writing the scene with Crowe and Connie Nielsen, who played Lucilla.…