Russell Crowe has officially signed on to star in Universal’s State of Play – which saw Brad Pitt walk off the project due to issues with the script.
Russell Crowe - "American Gangster" Industry Screening - Arrivals - The ArcLight Theater - Hollywood, CA, USA © David Gabber / PR Photos
Variety reports Crowe is set to star with Edward Norton, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman and Robin Wright Penn (all locked into a pay-or-play deal). The film made headlines when Pitt decided to leave the project right before Thanksgiving over issues with the screenplay.
The project has been in development for quite a while with Andrew Hauptman and Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner producing. Matthew Michael Carnahan has written the shooting script – which has seen several drafts since the project started.
In the film, Crowe will take on the role of a politico-turned-journalist who heads a newspaper's investigation into a killing that leads to a fast-rising pol (Norton). While he investigates, he develops a romance with the pol's estranged wife (Wright Penn).
Universal has yet to take legal action against Pitt for his departure, but has issued a statement that the option was open. Pitt’s camp has said the actor did nothing wrong, and that his departure was due to the studio refusing to wait for the writers strike to end for a rewrite on the script.
Crowe’s name was at the top of the list to replace Pitt, and this will be the third consecutive picture he has made for the studio. The actor is set to handle duties on State of Play and then head straight to Nottingham – which will be a new spin on the Robin Hood legend.
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