Crowe toasting 'Good Year'

Russell Crowe

LOS ANGELES - Russell Crowe is going from the boxing ring to the vineyards of France.

The actor is in discussions to reunite with his "Gladiator" director Sir Ridley Scott in "A Good Year," a project based on the breezy 2004 novel by Peter Mayle.

The story revolves around a London banker who moves to Provence after inheriting a vineyard. But when he arrives, he meets a California woman who claims that she owns the place.

The film has a tentative September start date in Paris.

Crowe was last in theaters with the boxing drama "Cinderella Man," which bombed at the US box office, not helped by his concurrent arrest for allegedly throwing a telephone at a hotel clerk. Scott last directed "Kingdom of Heaven," which also did poorly in the US but considerably better overseas. Scott's sword-and-sandal epic "Gladiator" netted Crowe a best actor Oscar in 2001 and also won best picture.

- REUTERS/HOLLYWOOD REPORTER