A first look has been revealed at Sleeping Dogs, the highly anticipated crime thriller film starring Russell Crowe. Production on the film recently wrapped in Australia, and the first look shows off Crowe and co-star Tommy Flanagan as a pair of grizzled homicide detectives.
Crowe and Flanagan, seemingly working a crime scene, will co-star in Sleeping Dogs alongside Karen Gillan, Marton Csokas, Harry Greenwood, and Thomas M. Wright. The movie will follow Crowe's Roy Freeman who revisits a brutal murder case from his face after he receives cutting-edge Alzheimer's treatment. The film is an adaptation of The Book of Mirrors, a 2017 crime drama novel by E.O. Chirovici.
Sleeping Dogs was directed by Adam Cooper in his directorial debut. Cooper also co-wrote the screenplay alongside Bill Collage. The pair have worked together on a number of high-profile scripts in the past, including the Assassin's Creed film adaptation and Exodus: Gods and Kings. The film is being produced by Mark Fasano of Nickel City Pictures alongside Cooper, Collage, Deborah Glover, and Pouya Shabazian of New Leaf Literary.
Sleeping Dogs Has an All-Star Cast
While not all the plot details on the film have been fleshed out, it is clear that Sleeping Dogs has an impressive ensemble cast. The Academy Award-winning Crowe, who was cast as the lead in Sleeping Dogs in August 2022, was recently seen in the horror film The Pope's Exorcist. While the project received mixed reviews, a sequel is already in development, with Crowe expected to reprise his toplining role. He will also be seen in Sony's upcoming Kraven the Hunter film, playing Kraven's father in the R-rated superhero project.
Gillan, known for her roles in the Doctor Who universe and the Jumanji films, is perhaps best known for portraying Nebula in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, the latest of which, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, was recently released in theaters to positive reviews. She has also appeared as Nebula in other films in the MCU, including the Avengers franchise and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Flanagan has had roles in a variety of acclaimed films, including Braveheart and Gladiator, the latter of which he appeared in alongside Crowe in the starring role. He also had a role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 alongside Gillan. However, he is most famous for his portrayal of Chibs Telford as a main character in the FX crime drama series Sons of Anarchy, also appearing in the show's spinoff series, Mayans M.C.
A release window for Sleeping Dogs has not yet been announced. Check out the full synopsis of Sleeping Dogs below, as well as Collider's recent interview with Crowe:
In the wake of a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment, former homicide detective Roy Freeman (Crowe) is tasked with re-examining a brutal murder case from his past – the grisly murder of a college professor (Csokas). Intrigued and fighting to regain his memory, Roy enlists his former partner (Flanagan) to help him revive the investigation. This time though, things unfold very differently when they encounter a magnetic and mysterious woman (Gillan): as he uncovers a tangled web of contradictions and secrets, Roy is forced to face a horrific reality that changes his world forever in the blink of an eye.