Paul Haggis is one happy director because he signed on Russell Crowe to star in The Next Three Days, the adaptation of the 2008 French film Pour Elle.

Crowe will play a teacher whose wife is arrested and convicted of a murder she says she did not commit. He comes up with a risky plan to free her.

Haggis wrote the script and will direct with production starting  late September in Pittsburgh.

Haggis told Daily Variety that the drama needed an actor who can thrive as an Everyman who rises when faced with an extraordinary circumstance, and Crowe was his top choice.

Haggis said the film explores deeper themes of faith and belief.  He went on to say “The deeper theme here is, would you save the woman you loved if you knew that by doing so, you would turn into a man that woman could no longer love?”

Haggis credits included Oscar winners Crash, which he co-wrote and directed and Million Dollar Baby, which he wrote and Clint Eastwood directed.  

I wonder who will play the wife of Crowe.  Julia Roberts? Catherine Keener? Hilary Swank? Amy Adams?

(Source)