Russell Crowe Sought for Darren Aronofsky's Noah and Joe Carnahan's Death Wish; RoboCop Rumor Denied
Posted 02.04.12 by Ryan
Russell Crowe seems to be up for every role available lately. Already set to play Inspector Javert in The King's Speech director Tom Hooper's musical version of Les Miserables starting this month, Crowe was recently cast in Winter's Tale, which will serve as the directorial debut for Academy Award–winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind). Crowe could add yet another project that would team the actor with Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky.
According to Deadline, Aronofsky wants Crowe for the title role in Noah, the director's take on the Biblical story that he has described as a "big event film." Crowe is not officially in the role, though Aronofsky is reportedly interested in the Australian actor for the lead. Aronofsky initially courted The Dark Knight actor Christian Bale for the role, but apparently scheduling issues have kept Bale from accepting the part. The director is also interested in Liam Neeson for an unspecified role as well.
Clearly based on the Noah's Ark story from the Bible, Aronofsky wrote the script for the movie, which was then rewritten by John Logan (Gladiator). Eyed as a epic movie, the budget is north of $100 million, which initially was a stumbling block for Aronofsky to get Noah started until Paramount decided to partner with New Regency in financing the movie last June.
Another project that is apparently seeking Crowe's services is director Joe Carnahan's remake of Michael Winner's 1974 crime thriller Death Wish. The news comes from actor Frank Grillo, who appears in Carnahan's latest movie The Grey, and told The Matthew Aaron Show (via Slashfilm) how he and Crowe could end up in the Death Wish remake.
While we were shooting The Grey, Jules Daly, whose going to produce Death Wish with Joe — she produced The Grey — said, you know, 'they're looking to get this for him to re-do the story and use his Carnahan magic to make the next generation of Death Wish,' and that's all I heard. And then as I was doing the film, they kept looking at me saying, 'What are you doing in January?' Like I don't know, they go, 'You know, we might do Death Wish' and he's — he [Carnahan] is imagining it as a two hander, it’s not just Bronson’s [character], it’s two brothers. And that's as much as I know because he hasn't told me very much. And he said, 'Look, if say Crowe was going to be the guy, I'd want you to be the brother, are you interested in that.' And I was said, 'Dude, I'd be interested in anything — whatever you want me to do.' And then last week it was basically greenlit and his [Carnahan's] deal was done and he went out and made the comment that he was writing a role for me. So, I'm in, man.
With all the interest in Crowe, it may be too difficult to schedule Crowe, but whether Carnahan has reached out to the actor, or if he even plans to, is unknown at this point. What is known is that the rumor of Crowe playing the lead in the upcoming RoboCop remake has been debunked by the actor himself. The rumor began as a Tweet from Variety writer Jeff Sneider, who mentioned that there was interest in Crowe playing the role.
Sure, Russell Crowe, MIGHT star in Aronofsky's NOAH... but do you know what else he MIGHT star in? Three words: Ro. Bo. Cop.
Crowe was asked via Twitter by follower DRockDot if there was any truth to the RoboCop rumor, and Crowe simply responded, "No."
Well, cross one movie off the list! To recap, Crowe will appear in Les Miserables for sure, Winter's Tale most likely, Noah maybe, Death Wish very maybe, and RoboCop no. That's a very (potentially) busy schedule!