Russell Crowe To Spend ‘The Next Three Days’ With Paul Haggis

Russell Crowe is in talks for the lead role in Paul Haggis’ “The Next Three Days,” the writer/director’s follow-up to 2007’s “In The Valley Of Elah,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In the new film, a remake of the French thriller “Pour Elle,” Russell will reportedly star as a husband who must help his wife after she’s thrown in jail for a murder she claims innocence over.

Russell, who starred recently in the dramas “Body Of Lies” and “State of Play,” will return to period action in Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood,” due in spring 2010.

Haggis has kept quiet on the directorial front since “Elah” and 2004’s Oscar-winning “Crash,” focusing instead on production (“Letters From Iwo Jima,” “Million Dollar Baby”) and writing, with credits on the aforementioned Clint Eastwood films, as well as the recent James Bond movies “Quantum of Solace” and “Casino Royale,” among others.