Russell Crowe May Be Playing Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde In Tom Cruise’s THE MUMMY

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fightin' 'Round The World star Russell Crowe is in talks to join Universal's Mummy as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Double the Crowe for their dollar!

Sayeth THR:

If a deal makes, Crowe would appear as the tormented character who changes into a murderous madman in Mummy before potentially starring in his own film.

Just a reminder: Mummy is the first in what's planned to be a Shared Universal Monsters Universe (the SUMU?). These films are set in the modern day, Tom Cruise is headlining the first one (as a special forces guy), and the SUMU will lean heavily on all the kick-ass action and totally sick stunts which defined these horror icons in the first place. As for what Jekyll/Hyde is doing in a Mummy movie, who knows? I'm sure the explanation will be compelling.

Interesting side note: The Hollywood Reporter also says that Tom Hardy had originally been their choice for the role. Then Javier Bardem. Either of these choices would have excited me. Crowe's casting, on the other hand, leaves me a little cold. But, again: who knows? Maybe he'll do something completely gonzo with it and blow us all away. Not outside the realm of possibility.

Mummy's already shooting in London, so Crowe better hurry up and sign up if he wants to get in on the ground floor of this thing. Stay tuned.