Russell Crowe could return to the director's chair to direct a short film in Sydney Unplugged, Belfast Telegraph reported.

The Gladiator star, who last directed in 2002, is tipped to take control of one segment in the anthology film devoted to the Australian city, alongside fellow Antipodeans Liev Schreiber and Alex Proyas, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Toni Collette and Without A Trace's Anthony LaPaglia are set to make their directorial debuts in the film, which is made up of 12 short stories and centred around Sydney, in a similar vein as New York, I Love You and Paris, Je T'aime.

Director John Polson and producer Gary Hamilton are developing the Sydney ode, which will start shooting in the city later this year for a 2013 Australian release.

Russell - who was last seen in Paul Haggis' thriller The Next Three Days - will next be seen as Superman's biological dad Jor-El in Zack Snyder's reboot Man Of Steel and crime drama Broken City alongside Mark Wahlberg and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

His directorial efforts included Texas, a live DVD documentary following his rock band 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts (TOFOG), and documentary short 60 Odd Hours In Italy.