Assassins Creed and Exodus: Gods and Kings scribes Adam Cooper and Bill Collage are on track for upcoming novel adaptation, Sleeping Dogs, which shoots this January. Academy Award winning actor Russell Crowe (Gladiator, upcoming Poker Face) is set to star in the pic with Cooper making his directorial debut for Nickel City Pictures.
Based on E.O. Chirovici’s critically acclaimed novel, “The Book Of Mirrors”, Crowe will play Roy Freeman, a homicide detective tasked with re-examining a past brutal murder case in the wake of a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment. When a death row inmate he arrested ten years prior steps up to proclaim his innocence, Roy enlists his former partner to help him revive the investigation and discover the truth. This time though, things unfold very differently: As he uncovers a tangled web of contradictions and secrets, Roy is forced to face a horrific reality that changes his world forever in the blink of an eye.
Nickel City’s Mark Fasano will produce alongside Cooper, Collage and Pouya Shabazian of New Leaf Literary. Matthew Goldberg, Cliff Roberts, Highland Film Group’s Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, and Ford Corbett will exec produce.
Nickel City Pictures is partnering with Highland Film Group to launch worldwide sales in Toronto next month.
“Our memory of the past is what gives us context for who we are. A character who is bereft in this capacity comes with a very complex kind of humanity — and there’s no one better at embodying complex characters than Russell Crowe,” said Cooper.
“Adam and Bill’s storytelling pedigree is really second to none and now, having the opportunity to work with Adam at the helm will be a truly exciting journey for us all. Russell Crowe is a serial award-winner, a master of his craft and perfectly cast in the challenging role of Freeman in this unique and prestigious project.” said Fasano.
“Working again with such a magnificent actor as Russell is a dream come true. We’re thrilled to team up with him for a second time in such a different and exciting role. He is a phenomenal performer and perfectly cast in Sleeping Dogs as the once brilliant detective whose memory has failed him,” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser. “Adam is a talented creator of unique and complex characters, and Russell is the perfect actor to deliver a highly nuanced and commanding performance in the lead role as Roy Freeman. Our director Adam Cooper’s vision is a tense and compelling one, full of suspense, intrigue and so many twists and turns! We cannot wait to see it brought to life,” added Highland COO Delphine Perrier.
Crowe is currently in production on Sony/Screen Gems The Pope’s Exorcist, and will next be seen in The Greatest Beer Run Ever and J.C. Chandor’s Kraven the Hunter. He is in post-production on the thriller Poker Face, which he directed and stars in.
Cooper’s forthcoming projects include Little Red Dog, the Nickel City adaptation of the Thomas Perry novel “Strip”, with John Gilroy directing; and the TV series The Destroyers for Amazon Prime, starring Nick Robinson and directed by Anne Sewitsky.
Crowe is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher, LLP (GGSSC). Jerry Dasti of Sloss Eckhouse LawCo represented Nickel City Pictures.
Nickel City Pictures is currently in post-production on the Universal romantic comedy The List, starring Halston Sage, as well as Neil Jordan’s noir thriller Marlowe starring Liam Neeson, and family adventure Boys of Summer with Mel Gibson and Mason Thames. The company is also in development with Silver Bear, an adaptation of the five-part book series by Derek Haas at Lionsgate.
HFG’s current sales slate also includes Crowe-led thriller Land of Bad, action thriller Blood For Dust which shoots this month, Neil LaBute’s Fear the Night starring Maggie Q, Tim Sutton’s fictional music biopic Taurus, Daniel Casey’s Wardriver, Rusty Cundieff’s 57 Seconds, John Stalberg Jr.’s Muzzle, Andy Fickman’s One True Loves, Savage Salvation starring Robert De Niro, John Malkovich and Jack Huston and Adrian Grünberg’s The Black Demon starring Josh Lucas.
