Every star has to do it at least once, and now it’s Russell Crowe’s turn. No, I don’t mean hitting a hotel porter with a phone, I mean directing a movie. Deadline reports Crowe is looking to make his feature directorial debut with 77, a crime drama from writer James Ellroy, who is of course the author of LA Confidential, which broke the Aussie actor in Hollywood to start with.
David Matthews has done a rewrite on the screenplay for 77, which Ellroy wrote nearly a decade ago as his first original screenplay. However despite numerous attempts, it’s never actually gone in front of the camera. The film is a period cop drama that looks at the nationally televised shootout between the Symbionese Liberation Army and the LAPD back in 1977, where 50,000 rounds of gunfire were exchanged. This incident will be wrapped around a murder mystery involving a cop as told from two different perspectives. The story will unfold from the point-of-view of both a white LAPD officer, and a black officer.
Russell Crowe is waiting for a rewrite of the screenplay before officially committing to the project, which he may also star in.