For about as long as the
Coen Brothers were plotting a new adaptation of the 60's western True Grit, those insanely talented siblings have been eyeing a much more light-hearted and comical film from the same decade that they feel is ripe for a remake. That property is
Gambit, an obscure Michael Caine & Shirley MacLaine caper of 1966 that was only recently in the last year or so
transferred to DVD here in the U.K. And after a revolving door of directors & potential cast members over the years including Doug Liman, Ben Kingsley, Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Aniston - the Coen Brothers scripted remake is now seemingly happening as a
Colin Firth / Cameron Diaz vehicle that shoots in London this May under the direction of The Last Station helmer Michael Hoffman. Diaz's casting was confirmed today by
Deadline and although she wouldn't have been my first choice as a screen pairing for Firth (I was hoping for Bullock) - Hoffman will get more out of her than he would Jennifer Aniston. Still Firth and Diaz - who saw that coming? In the Coens' updated version, cockney Caine's cat burglar is changed to a London Curator (Firth) who plans to scam a rich collector into buying a fake Monet painting, with MacLaine's EuroAsian showgirl turned into a Texas street roper (Diaz) who will pose as the granddaughter of a WWII veteran whose painting her grandfather liberated.
The appropriately named Crime Scene Pictures are financing with FilmNation Entertainment handling offshore sales at the European Film Market in Berlin. As far as Caine remakes go... I quite like the 21st century version of The Italian Job but Kenneth Branagh's take on Sleuth was one of the worst films of the year of it's release - an embarassing project for all involved - including Caine. Stallone's Get Carter and Jude Law's Alfie I have phased out of my memory... but there's hope for this one with the talent involved.