Russell In State For Brad

Russell Crowe will fill Brad Pitt’s shoes in the big screen version of State Of Play.

Brad dropped out of the movie based on the hit BBC drama last week due to creative differences over the script.

The movie's director, Kevin Macdonald – who made the Oscar winning The Last King Of Scotland – reportedly spent the weekend in Australia wooing Russell, who had to see if the movie could fit into his schedule.

In State of Play he will star alongside Edward Norton, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman and Robin Wright Penn as a political consultant-turned-journalist who heads a newspaper's murder investigation involving a fast-rising politician.