Actor Russell Crowe has pulled out from a new film about Australia's infamous Bra Boys gang at the request of his wife Danielle Spencer.

The "Gladiator" star admits that his wife was unhappy about his involvement with the project, which was to be a fictional account of the unruly family gang members, who had several clashes with New South Wales authorities almost two decades ago.

"I stepped away from that. It's not something my wife is comfortable with me approaching," dailyexpress.co.uk quoted Crowe as saying.

The actor was inspired to do the movie after watching a 2007 documentary on the Bra Boys, written and directed by members of the notorious gang.

"Whatever was encapsulated in that documentary is not really the full story and the longer you wait the more things happen. I wasn't actually directly attached to the film, but my involvement helped the producers get their own idea off the ground," he said.