A 2000 action epic starring Russell Crowe is coming to Hulu very soon. Upon its release, the film received an overwhelmingly positive reception, became a huge box office success, and won five Oscars, including Best Picture.
Gladiator streams on Hulu in June
Gladiator will land on Hulu’s streaming platform on Monday, June 1, 2026, according to the official schedule.
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ridley Scott directed the film with a script from David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson.
Franzoni got the idea for the film back in 1972, while on a road trip through Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The writer recalled that there were arenas “everywhere” he went in Europe and was constantly in awe of them. He eventually ended up in Baghdad, Iraq, where he read Daniel P. Mannix’s 1958 novel Those About to Die. “I had the idea for Gladiator while I was in Baghdad. And I swore if I ever became a screenwriter, I’d try to get it made,” he said (via Yahoo).
Gladiator follows Maximus, a respected Roman general betrayed by the emperor’s son, Commodus. After the murder of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Maximus is stripped of rank, his family is killed, and he is sold into slavery. Maximus then fights as a gladiator and rises through the ranks, earning fame, while seeking revenge against Commodus.
The film’s cast features Russell Crowe as Maximus, Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus, Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, Djimon Hounsou as Juba, Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius, and Oliver Reed as Antonius, among others.
DreamWorks Distribution LLC distributed the film in the United States and released it on May 5, 2000. Right from the start, Gladiator received unanimous praise from nearly everyone, earning high scores across all review-aggregator sites. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a critics’ score of 80% and a user score of 87%.
On IMDb, based on nearly 2 million users’ ratings, the score is 8.5. Moreover, it is currently #32 on the site’s Top 250 films. And at the box office, the film made over $465 million from global markets against a $130 million budget.
At the 2001 Oscars, Gladiator received 12 nominations. By the end of that night, it won five: Best Picture, Best Leading Role for Crowe, Costume Design, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects. The film’s composer, Hans Zimmer, also received a nomination, though he lost it to Dun Tan for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.