Russell Crowe may play Superman's father in 'Man of Steel'

According to Variety:




Ever since he agreed to oversee the franchise reboot of Superman, Christopher Nolan had been seeking a star for the role of Jor-El, Superman's biological father.
Nolan now has his man: Russell Crowe.

Crowe is in negotiations for the key role in "Man of Steel," which has Zack Snyder on board to direct for Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. Brit thesp Henry Cavill is set to play Superman. Warner Bros. declined to comment on the talks with Crowe.

Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Michael Shannon are already set for the pic. David Goyer penned the script and developed the story with Nolan, who has kept plot details under wraps, as usual.

Charles Roven will produce along with Emma Thomas, Nolan and Deborah Snyder. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips will exec produce for Legendary.

With production set to start next month, Jor-El was one of the last roles to cast, though they also are looking for a name to play Superman's biological mother.

Marlon Brando played the part of Jor-El in Richard Donner's 1978 rendition of "Superman." Other thesps who were pursued for the "Man of Steel" role included Sean Penn and Clive Owen.

Thoughts?

Is Russell Crowe about to make his directorial debut?

Perhaps, according to Deadline:

Russell Crowe is seriously considering starring in and making his feature directorial debut in 77. The period cop movie has a script by David Matthews, a rewrite of an original screenplay by LA Confidential's James Ellroy. Dick Wolf and Tony Ganz are producing. Crowe has been itching to make his directing debut for years and this sounds like a dynamite premise. The drama connects two stories from 1974. It deals with the unsolved murder of an LAPD officer, and the nationally televised shootout in South Central L.A. between the Symbionese Liberation Army and the LAPD, where 50,000 rounds of gunfire were exchanged. The events will be seen through the eyes of two police partners, one black and one white. Crowe was attached to Bra Boys, the dramatic adaptation of the documentary about outlaw surfers in Australia, and before that flirted with directing the Australia-based WWII drama The Long Green Shore, based on the novel by John Hepworth. He's awaiting a rewrite of the 77 script to see if this one will be the charm. WME reps him and the agency reps Matthews with Schiff Company.

-Joey's Two Cents: It sounds like a potentially compelling project, and I'm always interested to see how an actor makes the transition to being behind the camera...thoughts?