Gladiatorwas nominated for a number of Oscars, winning quite a few in the process. The Ridley Scott swords-and-sandals epic, which starred Russell Crowe as Maximus, premiered in 2000 and instantly became a hit with both critics and audiences. At the time of writing, more than 250 different critics' reviews have been compiled to earn it a Certified Fresh score of 80% on the review aggregator platform Rotten Tomatoes. More than 250,000 audience members have also rated it, giving it an even more favorable score of 87%.
The movie was also a commercial success, which led to it spawning the2024 sequelGladiator II. Although it cost a whopping $100 million ($183.8 million when adjusted for inflation),it grossed $4565.4 million worldwide($855.63 million when adjusted for inflation). This made it the second highest-grossing release of 2000, falling behind only the Tom Cruise-led sequelMission: Impossible II, which earned $546.4 million against a $125 million budget. It considerably outgrossed other franchise-spawning hits of the year, includingX-Men($296.3 million),Scary Movie($278 million), andCharlie’s Angels($264.1 million).
Gladiator True Story & Historical Accuracy: How Much Really Happened
Ridley Scott’s Gladiator is based in the history of ancient Rome, but while the movie is accurate in some areas, it take poetic license in others.
Gladiator Won 5 Oscars, Including Best Picture
Russell Crowe Was Also Awarded
At the 73rd Academy Awards, which took place in Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium on July 24, 2025, theoriginalGladiatorwonfive Oscars, the most of any movie during that ceremony. This includes winning Best Picture, beating out fellow nomineesChocolat,Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,Erin Brockovich, andTraffic. The other awards the historical epic won were Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Costume Design, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects.
The five Oscars thatGladiatorwon came froma grand total of 12 nominations in a variety of categoriesincluding Ridley Scott earning a nod for Best Director and futureJokerOscar winner Joaquin Phoenix getting a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance as Commodus. The majority of the awards that it lost went to Steven Soderbergh’sTrafficand Ang Lee’sCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which both won four Oscars apiece. Below, see a breakdown of the other nominations the movie earned and which movies actually won those awards during the 2001 ceremony:
Best Set Decoration
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
In spite of the fact thatit won fewer than half of the awards that it was nominated for, the Ridley Scott movie performed admirably well. In addition to winning the most Oscars at the 73rd Academy Awards,Gladiatorreceived the most nominations, followed byCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonwith 10, meaning that the smash hit martial arts movie also came home with fewer than half of the awards that it was nominated for.
Gladiator
Gladiator follows Maximus, a Roman general betrayed by the new emperor Commodus. After escaping execution, he is enslaved and becomes a gladiator. Set in ancient Rome, the story portrays his struggle for survival and quest for vengeance as he battles for his freedom in the arena.
