Rekindling a beautiful friendship sparked several years ago during the making of American Gangster, RZA has cast Russell Crowe in his upcoming kung-fu film The Man With The Iron Fist, which (as previously reported) RZA plans to direct with help from producer Eli Roth later this year. E! picked up the news at the MTV Video Music Awards, where RZA was quoted as saying that Crowe will “be the baddest man alive” opposite RZA’s weapons-crafting blacksmith in feudal China, the history of which Crowe is probably revising right this very moment, no matter what smart-assed reporters have to say about it.
As we mentioned, this isn’t the first time Crowe has tried RZA’s Wu-Tang style: The hip-hop producer once pronounced Crowe’s music as exceedingly bong bong—particularly the song “Weight Of A Man,” which RZA once credited with helping him end a feud with his then-girlfriend. Really. She was angry with RZA and he said, "Baby, it's just the weight of a man," and that was apparently that. We think only RZA could pull that off without invoking an even louder string of invective and possibly a volley of emasculating laughter, but who knows? Maybe next time your girl is giving you grief you should try it. Anyway, reportedly the two even recorded rough demos of a duet for the American Gangster soundtrack, only to find themselves shot down by studio executives with ears that can only be described as “bereft of life.” Now that RZA is once more calling the shots, perhaps they—and thus, all of us—will have better luck this time out.