It’s no secret that Russell Crowe has wanted to try his hand at directing a full-length film for some time. While he has helmed a few video shorts and the 2002 documentary Texas about his band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, none of his feature projects seem to make it to production. Now, however, it looks as though he is gearing up to take on The Water Diviner and could possibly star in it as well. He has mentioned the possibility via Twitter saying, “Directing myself, unless I don’t cast me or I am unavailable due to a prior commitment: the directing one.”
The script is also the first feature-length for scribes Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios. The story follows an Australian man as he searches for his two sons in Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli during World War I. The campaign was waged in an effort to gain control over the sea route from Europe to Russia. The Allied Powers suffered heavy losses over the months-long campaign.
It wouldn’t, in fact, be the first time an Australian had tackled the Battle of Gallipoli as a film subject; while The Water Diviner would appear to focus on the aftermath, Peter Weir’s 1981 feature entitled Gallipoli starred Mel Gibson as a young Australian man fighting in the campaign. The battle holds historical significance, as it was the first major military deployment by Australia (and New Zealand) in World War I. Between 25 and 30 thousand Australians were killed or wounded during the campaign.
Crowe seems to be deep in pre-production at the moment commenting, again over Twitter, “I go to an office. I sit there all day having meetings, gathering information and making decisions. I feel like I have become my accountant.”
The drama is set to release in 2014.
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