Olga Kurylenko (“Oblivion”) has been cast opposite Russell Crowe in his directorial debut “The Water Diviner,” with shooting starting Dec. 2 in Australia.

Mister Smith Entertainment will introduce the adventure project to international buyers at the upcoming 2013 American Film Market.

Producers are Andrew Mason and Troy Lum for Hopscotch Features, and Keith Rodger for Crowe’s own Fear of God Films. Crowe is directing from a screenplay is Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios.

RatPac Entertainment, which recently concluded a slate funding deal with Warner Bros. in partnership with Dune Entertainment, has come on board with production funding. RatPac founders James Packer and Brett Ratner will exec produce.

Crowe will portray an Australian farmer who — four years after Turkey’s Battle of Gallipoli during World War I — travels to Istanbul to discover the fate of his sons, reported missing in the action. Kurylenko will play the Turkish woman who owns the hotel in which he stays.

Kurylenko recently finished filming “Vampire Academy” and the spy thriller “November Man” opposite Pierce Brosnan. Crowe recently completed “Noah” and “A Winter’s Tale” and is in Voltage’s “Fathers and Daughters” opposite Amanda Seyfried.