This is one of the more unexpected casting coups in recent years.
Speaking with E! Online's Mark Malkin at last Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, RZA revealed that Russell Crowe has joined the cast of his kung-fu flick THE MAN WITH THE IRON FIST. According to RZA, the Academy Award-winner and avid fighter will play "the baddest man alive".
"That man is in fighting shape," said RZA. "That man will knock you out."
It's unknown how significant a part Crowe's character plays in the story (which RZA co-wrote with Eli Roth), but the actor's involvement in RZA's film didn't actually come out of the blue. They both appeared in Ridley Scott's AMERICAN GANGSTER, and hit it off so famously that they decided to record a song for the soundtrack (it was unused). They are also acting together in Paul Haggis's THE NEXT THREE DAYS.
THE MAN WITH THE IRON FIST will begin filming in Shanghai this December. I can't wait to see this thing.
