Russell Crowe’s new WWII movie, Nuremberg, is setting a major Rotten Tomatoes record for the Oscar winner. The actor stars in his most provocative role yet, portraying the German Nazi party leader and Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command, Hermann Göring. The historical biopic follows the events leading up to the Nuremberg trials, where an American psychologist, Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), must assess the powerful figure to determine if he’s fit for the stand.
Now, according to Rotten Tomatoes, Nuremberg scores a near-perfect 98% audience score based on over 100 verified ratings. If this score stands, it would be Crowe’s highest-rated movie by general viewers since L.A. Confidential, which has a 94% audience score.
In contrast, the critical score for the WWII movie is at 68% based on 101 reviews. However, it’s worth noting that when the film initially premiered at TIFF in September, the movie debuted at a low 40%, which means the Rotten Tomatoes score improved by 28 points leading up to its release.
Nuremberg reviews were mixed to generally positive about Crowe’s latest endeavor, praising the depiction of the historical events and the cast performances. Some have pointed out issues with the pacing and the tonality, as even ScreenRant‘s Gregory Nussen describes as “consistently confusing.” However, that seems to have little impact on audiences, who were far more engaged with the powerful story about the Nuremberg trials.
Additionally, critics and audiences agree that the film’s standout is Crowe himself as the intimidating Nazi leader. This has led to some pundits predicting that Crowe could become a strong Oscar contender for Best Actor, which could become his first Academy Award nomination since 2002 for A Beautiful Mind. He has won one Academy Award for Best Actor for Gladiator.
The improved Rotten Tomatoes score comes at a perfect time as award season is already underway. While Nuremberg has yet to see much action on the award circuit, that narrative could change as the award season inches closer to the Academy Awards on March 15, 2026.
In the meantime, Crowe remains one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, with at least four movies in development. Billion Dollar Spy, The Beast in Me, and Bear Country are already in post-production, while he is filming The Weight. Malek has one other project lined up with The Man I Love, which is now filming.
Nuremberg is now in theaters.
- Release Date
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November 7, 2025
- Runtime
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148 minutes
- Director
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James Vanderbilt
- Writers
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James Vanderbilt, Jack El-Hai
- Producers
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István Major, Richard Saperstein, William Sherak, Bradley J. Fischer, Paul Neinstein