The all-star cast of Sleeping Dogs, an upcoming thriller featuring Russell Crowe, is taking shape. Former Sons of Anarchy star Tommy Flanagan, who starred in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator with Crowe, booked a key role in the project. Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Marton Csokas (Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer) were also cast in Sleeping Dogs last month.
The Nickel City Pictures movie began production in Australia, reports Deadline. Sleeping Dogs is based on the novel The Book of Mirrors by E.O. Chirovici. Crowe plays former homicide detective Roy Freeman, who is asked to re-open a grisly case from his past, right after he is treated for Alzheimer’s disease. The case involved the murder of a college professor (Csokas) and brings him into contact with a mysterious woman (Gillan). Roy takes on the case to test his memory, but he soon uncovers a web of conspiracies he did not see before.
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Adam Cooper is directing with a script by Bill Collage (Assassin’s Creed). Harry Greenwood (Hacksaw Ridge) and Thomas M. Wright (Everest) also star. Cooper and Collage are also producing with Mark Fasano of Nickel City Pictures, and Deborah Glover and Pouya Shabazian of New Leaf Literary. The executive producers are Matthew Goldberg, Cliff Roberts, Highland Film Group’s Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, and Ford Corbett.
Flanagan is best known for playing Filip ‘Chibs’ Telford on FX’s Sons of Anarchy, and he reprised the role in a 2019 episode of Mayans M.C. He now starsย in Starz’s Power spinoff, Power Book IV: Force. His other recent TV credits include Westworld and Peaky Blinders. He worked with Gillan on Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. His other films include Killers Anonymous, The Rising Hawk, The Ballad of Lefty Brown, and Sand Castle. He played Cicero in Gladiator, opposite Crowe’s Maximus in the Oscar-winning film.
Sons of Anarchy ran on FX from 2008 to 2014 and is now streaming on Hulu. Mayans M.C. is the first spinoff of the series and debuted in 2018. The upcoming fifth season will be the show’s last, FX announced in January.
“No need to start a petition,” Mayans star J.D. Pardo told fans in January. “This was a creative decision that we made together. I will address this w a little more thought when I get a moment. We are on set filming Season 5 right now. Can’t wait for you all to see what’s in store this season! Much love to you all!”
