Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Colin Firth is in talks to star in Gambit, the Joel and Ethan Coen-scripted remake of the 1966 British action comedy that starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. The Last Station’s Michael Hoffman is directing.

Firth is again in the thick of the Oscar race for his role in the Tom Hooper-directed The King’s Speech. While the Coens just wrote and directed a remake in True Grit (they based theirs more on the original Charles Portis novel than the first film) it has taken a lot longer to get their scripted remake of Gambit into production, but not for lack of trying by producer Mike Lobell.

Hoffman signed on recently along with Crime Scene Pictures partners Adam Ripp and Rob Paris, who’ll provide financing through their upstart company. Glen Basner signed on to sell foreign territories though FilmNation. Their hope is to get the picture shooting in London and Texas before summer.

Firth would play a cat burglar who attempts to rob a billionaire of his priceless statue. He enlists the help of a waitress who looks exactly like the victim’s dead wife. The burglar’s usual precision is clouded by his relationship with his accomplice. Firth is repped by CAA.