Russell Crowe an Equalizer

Russell Crowe is set to play Robert McCall in a movie adaptation of ‘The Equalizer’.

The Australian actor – who most recently starred in Ridley Scott‘s reimagining of classic tale ‘Robin Hood’ – would play the character made famous by Edward Woodward in the 1980s crime series, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The series told the tale of McCall, a dark character who was known to have done bad things in his past, although it is not yet clear what the storyline of the movie version will be.

The film has been in development since 2005, and joins a number of 80s classics currently proving popular with Hollywood, with both ‘The A-Team’ and ‘Karate Kid’ on the big screen.

David Von Ancken is due to direct the film, which is due for release in 2011.

Oscar-winning actor Russell will soon hit cinema screens in crime drama ‘The Next Three Days’ alongside Liam Neeson and Olivia Wilde, and is rumoured to be working on sci-fi western movie ‘Westworld’, set for release in 2012.