Russell Crowe to battle vampires (From Asian Image)

Russell Crowe to battle vampires

12:41pm Monday 13th February 2012 in Entertainment News © Press Association 2011

Gladiator star Russell Crowe could soon be battling vampires in Dracula reboot Harker.

The Oscar-winning actor is in talks to star as hero Jonathan Harker in the modern retelling of Bram Stoker's classic novel, New York magazine's Vulture blog reports.

Russell would play Harker as a Scotland Yard detective investigating Count Dracula following a string of gruesome murders in England.

The reboot has been co-written by Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy and boasts Leonardo DiCaprio among its producers.

It has been reported that The Orphan's Jaume Collet-Serra is attached to direct the project and Warner Bros are apparently putting their big budget adaptation of Japanese Manga film Akira on hold, so the Spanish director can work on Harker first.

Russell has just begun working on Tom Hooper's movie version of musical Les Miserables, and is also in negotiations to star in Darren Aronofsky's Biblical epic Noah.