Russell Crowe to play mobster in American Son

Russell Crowe has signed up to star in upcoming thriller American Son.

The 56-year-old Oscar winner will be appearing as a mobster in the movie, which will be directed by Andrew 'Rapman' Onwubolu from a screenplay by Dennis Lehane.

According to Variety, the movie centres around a man who, after falling under the control of a ruthless mobster, played by Crowe, while in prison, builds a multiracial crime syndicate, takes down his mentor, and teams up the Italian and Russian mafias. Executives at film studio Paramount will now begin their search for the movie's protagonist.

American Son is based on the acclaimed French film A Prophet, which followed an Arab man who is sent to a French prison, where he becomes a mafia kingpin.

That film, directed by Jacques Audiard, won the Grand Prix at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2010 Oscars.

The casting news follows the recent announcement that Crowe's thriller Unhinged will be released on 1 July, making it the first film to return to cinemas once the coronavirus lockdown ends and movie theatres reopen. However, the tentative July reopen is subject to change depending on the progress made with tackling the virus.

Crowe was recently seen portraying real-life bushranger Harry Power in The True History of the Kelly Gang and disgraced TV executive Roger Ailes in TV miniseries The Loudest Voice.