Writer/director Shane Black’s long-in-the-works 1970s-set noir film The Nice Guys could finally be coming to fruition.  Last month, we learned that the Joel Silver-produced project was picking up steam with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe circling the lead roles of a private detective and a muscle-for-hire who are brought together to investigate the suicide of a fading porn star.  It’s the kind of hard-boiled, noir-tinged project that seems a perfect fit for Black, so fingers were crossed that the pic could finally come together.  Evidently all that wishing and hoping paid off, as Warner Bros. has now closed a deal to acquire the project, bringing it that much closer to being a reality.  More after the jump.

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Image via Marvel.

THR reports the news that The Nice Guys has found a home in WB.  Written by Black and Anthony Bagarozzi, the story was initially envisioned as a TV series, but was repackaged as a film when the pilot never moved forward.  Neither Gosling or Crowe is officially signed on at this point, but they appear to have been part of the lucrative package that caught Warner Bros.’ eye.  The two certainly seem like swell fits, and the prospect of seeing them spout off Black’s dialogue in a 70s-infused world makes me very, very happy.

It’s unclear if this would be Black’s next project, but it’s certainly a possibility as he juggles a few highly intriguing properties after helming Iron Man 3 to $1.2 billion last year.  He’s been developing an adaptation of the 1930s-set pulp series Doc Savage for a bit, reportedly meeting with Chris Hemsworth for the lead role.  And he’s also working on this thing called Predator, as he’s attached to co-write and direct a new installment in the action franchise that he describes as an “inventive sequel”.

Again, we’re not sure which of these three projects will go first (though of the trio, Predator seems to be in the earliest stage of development), but The Nice Guys being set up at Warner Bros. gives that project significant momentum.  Whatever his next project is it’ll still be a Shane Black movie, and that in and of itself is reason to be excited.