Entertainment

Russell Crowe Officially Returns to Sci-Fi With ‘Stranger Things’ Director

Published

on

2026 has been a busy year for Russell Crowe, starring in action features like Beast and The Get Out, but each film was only released in limited theaters in the U.S., so it never quite found a niche in theaters. Both movies are now available to watch at home on VOD platforms like Prime Video and Apple TV, and each has had short-lived runs into the top 10. Crowe did debut a massively successful movie in 2025 with Nuremberg, his WWII passion project that he spent years trying to get off the ground. While he has released new movies this year, Crowe has primarily been focused on shooting scenes for Henry Cavill’s new Highlander reboot movie — Crowe even shared a new image of himself training for the film earlier this week.

Russell Crowe still has plenty of exciting projects in the works, but that doesn’t mean he’s not always on the hunt for another hit. News broke this afternoon that Crowe is returning to the sci-fi genre for a new thriller, Bluefly, co-starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas from The Bluff and Citadel. Stranger Things director Nimród Antal is directing the sci-fi feature with a script from David Frigerio, William and Carlyle Eubank. Pre-sales for the project are set to launch soon at TIFF, and the official synopsis reads as follows:

“Deep in the Congo, a grieving UN translator is pulled into a black-ops mission to recover a downed aircraft that isn’t supposed to exist. As a Special Operations team pushes upriver through militia-held territory, the recovery becomes a descent — and the closer they get to the craft, the clearer it becomes that they were never meant to bring it home.”











Advertisement









































Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz
Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive?
The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Advertisement

Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.

💊The Matrix

🔥Mad Max

🌧️Blade Runner

🏜️Dune

Advertisement

🚀Star Wars

Advertisement

01

You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do?
The first instinct is often the truest one.





Advertisement

02

In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely?
What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.





Advertisement

03

What kind of threat keeps you up at night?
Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.





Advertisement

04

How do you deal with authority you don’t trust?
Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.





Advertisement

05

Which environment could you actually endure long-term?
Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.





Advertisement

06

Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart?
The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.





Advertisement

07

Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all?
Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.





Advertisement

08

What would actually make survival worth it?
Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.





Advertisement
Your Fate Has Been Calculated
You’d Survive In…

Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.

Advertisement


The Resistance, Zion

The Matrix

You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.

  • You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
  • You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
  • You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
  • The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.

Advertisement


The Wasteland

Mad Max

The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.

  • You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
  • You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
  • You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
  • In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.

Advertisement


Los Angeles, 2049

Blade Runner

You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.

  • You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
  • In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
  • You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
  • In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.

Advertisement


Arrakis

Dune

Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.

  • Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
  • You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
  • Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
  • In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.

Advertisement


A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Star Wars

The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

  • You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
  • You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
  • You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
  • In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Advertisement

When Will ‘Bluefly’ Come Out?

There’s no word yet on when Bluefly will be released, but production on the film is expected to begin later this year off the coast of Australia. Should it secure distribution at TIFF, it could be as soon as 2027 before it comes out, whether it be in theaters or on streaming. It will speak volumes about the project whether there’s a bidding war for it come time at the Toronto International Film Festival. The premise for the film certainly sounds intriguing, but a movie needs a lot more than a cool premise to make it across the finish line.

Advertisement

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates on the new sci-fi thriller, Bluefly, as well as future coverage of Russell Crowe’s future projects.


Advertisement


Release Date
Advertisement

2016 – 2025-00-00

Network

Netflix

Advertisement

Directors

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz

Advertisement

Writers

Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock

Advertisement

Advertisement


Advertisement

Source link

Advertisement

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Trending

Exit mobile version