was poorly received, and The Next Three Days 
was a borderline disaster. But Crowe is too big of a talent to stay down for long, and if all works out as planned his next project could be his biggest yet. Deadline reports that Crowe is considering starring and directing '77, a hostage thriller based on a story by LA Confidential's James Ellroy. If he takes it on, this would mark Crowe's feature directorial debut. He directed a short documentary in 2001 about his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.The story was cooked up by Ellroy nearly a decade ago, based on the true events of the 1974 shootout between the LAPD and the Symbionese Liberation Army. If you don't know who the SLA are, just know that they're the same folks who kidnapped and eventually converted Patty Hearst to their cause. The film would connect the shootout to the unsolved murder of an LAPD officer. The shooutout was broadcast on national television, and saw over 50,000 rounds of ammo exchanged. Crazy sh*t.
While the story is Ellroy's, the script was written by David Matthews, but apparently a rewrite is in order. Crowe will make his final decision once that's been completed. Crowe's got a lot of potential projects on his plate right now, so whether this one bears fruit remains to be seen. He's been attached to star in Paul Haggis's take on The Equalizer
, and possibly could star in a musical directed by Philip Noyce(Salt
).Crowe is a personal favorite of mine, but he's been in a slump for a good little while now. Hopefully this will be the flick that turns things around.
