With shooting scheduled to begin in December, Russell Crowe is busy casting for his directorial debut of the Aussie war drama The Water Diviner. Crowe has already cast himself in the lead, and now has chosen Olga Kurylenko as his romantic interest. Kurylenko, a former model, gained fame as a Bond Girl in Quantum of Solace, played Tom Cruise’s leading lady in Oblivion, and most recently appeared opposite Ben Affleck in Terence Malick’s To The Wonder.

Olga Kurylenko will star with Russell Crowe in ‘The Water Diviner’

The adventure takes us back to 1915, when the Allies campaigned to knock the Ottoman Empire out of World War I. British Commonwealth troops from Australia and New Zealand sent thousands of soldiers, known as the ANZACs (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps), to fight the Gallipoli Campaign and secure the Dardanelles in western Turkey. The ANZACs suffered 10,000 casualties. When Russell Crowe attended the recent Coffs Harbor Memorial Day services to commemorate ANZAC Day, with key players of the Aussie Film Industry, it was a sign they had their own commemorative in mind –The Water Diviner.

The Water Diviner is about a father in 1919 who has lost his  sons in the ill-fated Campaign and goes to Turkey to retrieve the bodies.

The historical drama script is by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios, both writers from Australian TV. The Australian Hopscotch Features is producing alongside Russell Crowe’s own Fear Of God Productions.

Russell Crowe will direct and star in ‘The Water Diviner’.

Crowe has a busy year ahead, with the Biblical epic Noah hopefully slated for a 2014 release. Crowe will also star in Fathers and Daughters with his Les Miserables co-star Amanda Seyfried playing his daughter.

Olga Kuryenko has Empires of the Deep, Vampire Academy and November Man all dropping in 2014.