Warner Bros. Picks Up Shane Black's 'Nice Guys' With Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe

Shane Black co-wrote the script and will direct the 1970s-set thriller.

Warner Bros. has closed a deal for the North American distribution rights for The Nice Guys, a period noir project from Shane Black that has Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe attached to star.

The deal puts the studio back in business with the man who created the Lethal Weapon franchise for Warners in the late 1980s and who made his directorial debut with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The latter, which relaunched Robert Downey Jr.'s career, was also distributed by Warners.

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Joel Silver, who produced both Weapons movies and Bang Bang, is producing Nice Guys, which is said to have much of the trademark Shane Black dark comedy and smarty-pants dialogue.

Nice Guys, which Black wrote with Anthony Bagarozzi, was initially envisioned as a TV series but never got past the pilot stage. Silver and Black refitted it as a feature and have been packaging it in recent months.

The plot centers on a private detective and a beefcake who search for a missing porn star and uncover an underground ring of corruption.