Russell Crowe to sharpen his claws as a steadfast club owner up against a cartel in the action-thriller Bear Country

We can’t stop here! This is Bear Country! While Russell Crowe passes the Gladiator torch to Paul Mescal for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, the Oscar-winning actor is getting behind the bar for Derrick Borte’s (Unhinged, London Town, The Joneses) upcoming action-thriller Bear Country. The project marks another collaboration between Crowe and Borte after teaming up for Unhinged, a thriller starring Crowe as an unstable man obsessed with a woman after a spat of road rage.

According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, Bear Country finds Crowe playing an aging but redoubtable club owner, Manco Kapak, whom a masked gunman robs. When the robbery sidelines his retirement plans and his girlfriend grows distant, his aspirations to live a quiet life shatter like glass breaking against a hardwood floor. As cartel bosses harass Manco and a young status seeker aims to purchase the club, Kapak must decide how to show them who the boss is.

In addition to directing Bear Country, Borte co-wrote the script with Daniel Forte (American Dreamer, H8RZ) based on the Thomas Perry novel Strip.

“After the great experience we shared on Unhinged, I’d been looking for another project with Russell – one that would allow him to show more of what so many people (including myself) loved so much about Jackson Healy in The Nice Guys – and we both immediately knew that Bear Country was the one,” Borte said about re-teaming with Crowe.

“The way Russell and Derrick took such a simple concept and turned Unhinged into a nonstop white knuckle ride is exactly what excites me about re-teaming the two for this sophisticated and fun ride through the sexy and seedy streets of Los Angeles. In addition to having action and comedy, this one allows Derrick to do what he does best, ratcheting up the suspense via a highly castable ensemble cast of characters in Bear Country,” said producer Jeffrey Greenstein.

People should know better than to mess with a person’s livelihood, especially when Russell Crowe plays the person you’re trying to screw over. It’s like they’ve never seen Gladiator or Cinderella Man. Are you interested in checking out Bear Country? Let us know in the comments section below.