Russell Crowe Made A Bizarre Viral Video To Promote ‘Unhinged’ That Includes A ‘Gladiator’ Jab

Despite the ongoing pandemic, Russell Crowe’s Unhinged is on track to the be the first film to open in theaters since widespread quarantines threw Hollywood into disarray in mid-March. To promote the film’s questionable Friday release, Crowe has been posting a series of bizarre videos to his Twitter account, where it’s unclear whether the actor is genuinely trying to boost ticket sales or just having a ball firing off weird promos.

Case in point, in one video, Crowe whips out the mask from Gladiator and opens with a reference to his iconic “My name is Maximus” speech from the 2000 classic before getting into character to promote Unhinged.

“My name… is incidental, pointless, of no concern,” Crowe says in the odd PSA. “I am a figment of your nightmares. I am from a reference point deep inside your hidden list of fears. I am rage, past the point of reason. I am unhinged.”

But just when you think the video is all business, Crowe breaks character in the end and starts laughing about how there’s “nothing new” going on, and he’ll “see you soon.” It’s pretty bizarre.

You can see Crowe’s viral video below:

In light of Crowe’s PSAs, The A.V. Club spoke to two epidemiologists who heavily recommend not going to theaters anytime soon. “There is no scenario in which going to a movie theater is a good idea,” Dr. Anne W. Rimoin, professor of epidemiology and director of the Center For Global And Immigrant Health at the University Of California, bluntly put it. The experts note that indoor seating for long periods of time is already a dicey situation. Couple that with people removing their masks to eat concessions (which both doctors agreed should not be served for the foreseeable future), or simply for convenience while under the cover of darkness, and you have a recipe for disaster.

(Via Russell Crowe on Twitter)