Russell Crowe will battle the Roman Empire once again in 'The Last Druid'.

Russell Crowe has been cast in The Last Druid

Russell Crowe has been cast in The Last Druid

The 60-year-old actor is to lead the cast of the new movie that tells the story of a Roman Emperor who finds a secluded Druid stronghold in the mountains of Caledonia.

Crowe is set to play a peaceful Celtic elder who is forced to take up arms in order to protect his family and people from annihilation.

The role comes almost 25 years after Russell's Oscar-winning performance as Maximus Decimus Meridius in Sir Ridley Scott's historical epic 'Gladiator'.

Additional casting is underway on the project that is being directed by Will Eubank from a script he has written with Phil Gawthorne and his brother Carlyle Eubank.

ACG is launching sales on the film at the American Film Market which is taking place in Las Vegas next week.

Russell will not be returning for 'Gladiator II' after Maximus' death at the end of the 2000 original movie and he previously confessed that he was "slightly uncomfortable" with a follow-up being made with Paul Mescal in the lead role.

Speaking on the Kyle Meredith With... podcast, he said: "I'm slightly uncomfortable with the fact they're making another one – because, of course, I'm dead and I have no say in what gets done.

"But a couple of things I've heard I'm like, 'No, no, no, that's not in the moral journey of that particular character.' But I can't say anything, it's not my place, I'm six foot under. So we'll see what that is like."

Crowe explained that the sequel brings on feelings of "melancholy" and "jealousy" because the first film had such an important influence on his movie career.

The 'A Beautiful Mind' star said: "I reflect back: the age I was when I made that film and all the things that came after it, the doors that particular movie opened for me. This is just me being purely honest: there's definitely a tinge of melancholy, a tinge of jealousy. I remember when I had tendons."

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