Shane Black’s The Nice Guys has Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe circling

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It’s been a few years since I last heard about Shane Black’s THE NICE GUYS; his L.A.-set crime film is now in the early casting with eyes on Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe to star. With the success of last year's IRON MAN 3, Black I imagine can move on to any project he desires; so let it be a 1970s noir movie produced by Joel Silver!

The Wrap reported on these details saying Silver's company Silver Pictures is preparing to "[shop] the project to studios and independent financiers" as it moves forward. It’s the same script that Black and Anthony Bagarozzi wrote some time ago, below is a synopsis from the Austin Film Festival page announcing a live stage read of the script in 2011:

In smoggy 1970s Los Angeles, Jackson Healy (muscle-for-hire, recovering alcoholic) and Holland March (private eye, practicing alcoholic) are brought together by the suicide of a fading porn star. Problem is, the dead girl’s aunt is convinced she saw her niece alive and well, AFTER the highly publicized incident. March needs money, takes the case-and within days, it’s blossomed into a far-reaching murder conspiracy, bizarrely rooted in smog and the U.S. auto industry.

I would love nothing more than for this movie to move forward with Gosling and Crowe headlining. I may be biased because I really believe that Shane Black delivers all the time; he wrote LETHAL WEAPON, the highly underrated LAST ACTION HERO, and KISS KISS BANG BANG which he wrote and directed. This movie sounds great and combines elements that Black has certainly played with before; nothing can go wrong here.