12 Years Later, Russell Crowe's Forgotten Historical Thriller Sails Toward a New Streamer

Russell Crowe is wasting no time starting his movie year in 2026, thanks to his new release, Beast, which is now playing in select theaters around the world. The thriller draws on DNA from other notable MMA movies like Warrior (starring Tom Hardy) and The Smashing Machine (starring Dwayne Johnson), and it stars Crowe as a legendary coach who helps a fighter train for his big comeback. Crowe is still growing from the success of his biggest hit of 2025, the WWII legal thriller Nuremberg (co-starring Rami Malek and Michael Shannon), which performed well at the box office before going on to dominate Netflix. When you’ve been acting in blockbuster movies as long as Crowe, it’s only natural that some are going to be met with better reception than others — it’s fair to say he’s been in some polarizing films over the years.