Russell Crowe and David Oyelowo will star in 'Arc of Justice'.
Russell Crowe
The two actors have been cast in the new courtroom drama based on Kevin Boyle's 'Arc of Justice: A Sage of Race, Civil Rights and Murder in the Jazz Age'.
Variety report that Oyelowo, 41, has officially signed on and Crowe, 53, is nearing putting his name on the dotted line. Both actors have earned Oscar nominations for biopic movies in the past for including 'Selma' and 'The Insider' respectively.
Oyelowo can be seen next in the latest film in the 'Cloverfield' franchise which is out this autumn, while Crowe will be seen in the reboot of 'The Mummy' as Dr. Jekyll and his alter ego Mr. Hyde.
'Arc of Justice' follows African American doctor Ossain Sweet (Oyelowo), who is charged with murder in 1925 after a racial incident for defending his newly bought property against a mob of white rioters, manages to hire defence lawyer Clarence Darrow (Crowe) to defend him against the charge.
Darrow is one of the most famous lawyers in American history and was defended the right to teach evolution against William Jennings Bryan in the Scopes Trial in 1925.
So far he has only been brought to the big screen in the fictionalised account of the Scopes Trial in 'Inherit the Wind' back in 1960.
The film will be directed by 'Narcos' director Jose Padilha of 'Elite Squad' and 'RoboCop' fame and a screenplay by 'Godzilla' writer Max Borenstein and 'The Boondocks' writer Rodney Barnes has already been written.
Produced by the Marc Gordon Company, the film touches on a sensitive and explosive topic during the time.
Mark Gordon, Hawk Koch, Borenstein and MGC's Matt Jackson will produce the feature with Josh Clay Phillips overseeing the production.
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