Former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko will star opposite Russell Crowe in historical drama The Water Diviner, which will mark Crowe’s feature directing debut.
Due to start shooting in Australia on December 2, the film follows a farmer (Crowe) who goes to Turkey four years after the end of WW2 in search of his three sons who presumably were victims of the Gallipoli campaign.
Kurylenko (The Quantum of Solace, Oblivion, To the Wonder) will play a Turkish woman who owns the hotel in Istanbul where he stays. She forms a relationship with Crowe’s character and accompanies him in the search, aided by a Turkish officer.
Brett Ratner and James Packer’s RatPac Entertainment, which recently signed a deal to co-finance up to 75 films with Warner Bros. and Dune Entertainment, will fund the film. Packer and Ratner, whose first investment was in Gravity, will serve as executive producers.
The producers are Hopscotch Features’ Andrew Mason and Troy Lum and Keith Rodger of Crowe’s Fear of God Films. The original screenplay is by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastassios. The DoP is Andrew Lesnie.
David Garrett's Mister Smith Entertainment will introduce the project to international buyers at the upcoming 2013 American Film Market in Los Angeles.
Hopscotch Features has a first-look deal with Universal Pictures for Australia and New Zealand.