Foolproof plan for Gambit: Hiring Colin Firth

After what is close to a decade of trying to get this remake off the ground, things are looking good for Gambit. Only weeks after signing Michael Hoffman to direct, producers are attempting to lasso the future Oscar nominated Best Actor in Colin Firth (for The King’s Speech) which means producers will likely attach a female protag that is somewhat more suave than previously announced actresses (Jennifer Aniston was once mentioned). At this point, Firth is in talks – but financing is in place and their hope is to get the picture shooting in London and Texas before summer.

Gist: They’ll have to seriously modernize the screenplay, this is based on the 1966 British caper pic that starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. That film revolved around a British thief who comes up with a fool-proof plan to steal an expensive statue from one of the richest men in the world. His strategy involves the participation of a beautiful woman who happens to be the spitting image of the rich man’s late wife. However, nothing goes as planned.

Worth Noting: This is one of the rare times when Joel and Ethan Coen write a screenplay and don’t direct it themselves.

Do We Care?: We generally don’t care much for the caper and heist genres, but were among the small percentage pleased by odd films such as Duplicity. This might ultimately become a fun exercise in trying to part the contributions of the screenwriter and that of the director, whose last works include The Emperor’s Club, Game 6 and The Last Station.