Crowe to bust a gut for movie
RUSSELL Crowe is facing an epic battle before filming the sequel to Gladiator.
The Australian actor, 54, must lose at least four stone before returning to the role that earned him an Oscar almost two decades ago.
Crowe is set for a “flashback” role in the sequel because his character Maximus met a grisly end in the original.
Crowe recently piled on the pounds to portray portly Fox cable news boss Roger Ailes in TV miniseries The Loudest Voice.
He now tips the scales at just over 20 stone.
Crowe, who is just under 6ft tall, chose to beef up through several months of controlled weight gain rather than wear a huge prosthetic belly.
Film director Ridley Scott wants to start shooting Gladiator 2 within weeks of the final scenes for The Loudest Voice being wrapped.
A senior production source told us: “Russell is going to have less than two months to transform himself from an overweight news executive into a lean, mean fighting machine.
“He’s fully aware of the dangers of yo-yo dieting and his team is working out a tough diet and exercise plan for him to follow without starving himself.”
“Gladiator 2 will continue the story of Lucius, the nephew of twisted emperor Commodus who was stabbed to death by Maximus after he himself was mortally wounded.” CHEER up a miserable winter with the new series of Netflix comedy Schitt’s Creek.
It’s back for a fifth series and is due to hit screens in the UK soon.
It follows the exploits of the wealthy Rose family, who lose all their money and have to move to the small town of Schitt’s Creek – which they once bought for a joke.