Russell Crowe’s WWII Thriller Is Still One of the Most Addictive War Dramas on Netflix

Russell Crowe is wasting no time getting the ball rolling with his first movie of 2026, Beast, which hits theaters around the world next weekend. The film stars Crowe as a grizzled MMA coach opposite Luke Hemsworth and Daniel MacPherson, and it’s lining up to be a perfect movie for fans who enjoyed The Smashing Machine, Dwayne Johnson’s 2025 MMA biopic. Crowe is also still hard at work filming his new sci-fi/fantasy remake, Highlander, which also stars Henry Cavill and Dave Bautista. The film is a direct remake of the 1986 film led by Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, and it’s being helmed by tenured John Wick director Chad Stahelski. Highlander still does not have an official release date, but it’s likely that it will make its theatrical debut sometime next year.

2025 was a relatively quiet year for Crowe, at least until November, when he made his long-awaited return to the big screen with Nuremberg, his hit WWII courtroom drama co-starring Rami Malek and Michael Shannon. When early screenings for the film first premiered in the months leading up to its global debut, Crowe was even earning Oscar buzz for his performance as Hermann Göring, but the Academy ultimately passed on recognizing him. Still, Nuremberg grossed nearly $50 million at the global box office before also going on to top VOD charts for weeks. The film debuted on Netflix last month, and although weeks have passed, it’s still one of the most popular movies on the platform. Nuremberg was written and directed by James Vanderbilt, and it’s based on the book titled The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai.

Why Isn’t Russell Crowe in ‘Gladiator 2’?

Even more than 25 years later, Gladiator is still one of the most famous movies of Russell Crowe’s career, so most fans thought he would have some role in the sequel despite being left out of all the trailers. Near the end of 2024, Gladiator II came and went, and there was no sign of Crowe’s Maximus, not even in flashbacks. Ridley Scott’s answer to this was simple, citing that the character died, but Crowe insists that he would have liked to have been included. Late last year, Crowe went public with his harsh criticism of Gladiator II, saying that it was an example of the creatives involved not understanding what made the first film special.

Check out Nuremberg on Netflix in America and stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates and coverage of Crowe’s future projects.