In a red-hot package taking shape, Oscar winner Russell Crowe and Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling are being courted to star in Shane Black's noir film “The Nice Guys,” multiple individuals familiar with the project have told TheWrap.

Joel Silver is producing via his Silver Pictures banner and will be shopping the project to studios and independent financiers in the coming days, as various development executives have been closely tracking “Nice Guys.”

Representatives for Gosling and Crowe cautioned that it'd be premature to call either actor attached, especially Crowe, as the project may conflict with his publicity schedule for his upcoming directorial debut “The Water Diviner.”

Black and Anthony Bagarozzi wrote “The Nice Guys” years ago, but the project has been languishing in development until recently gaining new momentum. The duo actually staged a public reading of the script in October 2011 at the Austin Film Festival.

Set in smoggy 1970s Los Angeles, story follows Jackson Healy (muscle-for-hire, recovering alcoholic) and Holland March (private eye, practicing alcoholic), who are brought together by the suicide of a fading porn star. However, the dead girl's aunt is convinced she saw her niece alive and well after the highly publicized incident. March needs money, takes the case, and within days, it's blossomed into a far-reaching murder conspiracy, bizarrely rooted in smog and the U.S. auto industry.

In addition to “The Water Diviner,” Crowe recently wrapped Gabriele Muccino's drama “Fathers and Daughters.” He just starred in Darren Aronofsky's “Noah” and will likely be in the mix this awards season.

Gosling's directorial debut “Lost River” recently premiered to mixed reviews at Cannes. He'll soon be seen in an untitled Terrence Malick movie set amid the music scene in Austin, Texas. He's represented by Anonymous Content and LBI Entertainment.

Black is the veteran blockbuster screenwriter who most recently wrote and directed “Iron Man 3,” which grossed more than $1.2 billion worldwide. He has been developing a “Doc Savage” movie at Sony.

Both Crowe and Black are represented by WME and attorney Alan Hergott.

Warner Bros has staked out a June 17, 2016 release date for The Nice Guys, the Shane Black-directed detective thriller starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling that reunites Black with his Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Lethal Weapon producer Joel Silver. The studio picked up the project in July beating out other suitors and now plans to start production this fall.

Nice Guys is set in 1970s LA, when a down-on-his-luck private eye (Gosling) and hired leg-breaker (Crowe) work together to solve the case of a missing girl and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star. Their investigation uncovers a much bigger conspiracy. Black wrote the screenplay with Anthony Bagarozzi. Silver is producing via Silver Pictures, with Ken Kao of Waypoint Entertainment, Hal Sadoff, and Michael Malone executive producing. Waypoint is co-financing, and BLOOM is handling international sales.

The plot follows a private eye (Gosling) and an enforcer (Crowe) thrust into the same case of a missing girl. The death of a porn star complicates matters, as does the conspiracy they unravel that will have a big impact on some powerful people in high places. Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger, and The Leftovers' Margaret Qualley also star.

Black had more to say about the film:

"I think we've really lucked out. Whether this thing is a comedy with action or a thriller with jokes, one thing that's very clear is these two are extremely funny. People will enjoy seeing the two of them [Gosling and Crowe]."

"It is an R-rated film and it's a caper," says Black. "It's a little fast, a little funny and a little rough in places, kind of coarse. These guys are working-class dudes, they're not really sophisticated private detectives, so it's a chance to do the kind of thriller I don't see too much of anymore."
"[The movie] retains the harshness of the world and gives a nod that we're very much in noir territory," Black says. "It's a little bit pushed – the premise, the time period, everything is a little crazy."