Cameron Diaz (The Box) has been cast in Gambit, a remake of the 1966 crime film.
Diaz will star opposite Colin Firth (The King’s Speech).
Gambit centers on Harry Bean (Firth), a cat burglar, who attempts to rob a billionaire with the help of a waitress (Diaz) who looks exactly like the victim’s dead wife.
Michael Hoffman (The Station Agent) is attached to direct a script penned by Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit).
Production will commence in London this May.
Below is the official press release we’ve been sent from Film Nation Entertainment:
CAMERON DIAZ JOINS COLIN FIRTH IN GAMBIT FROM WRITERS JOEL & ETHAN COEN
Crime Scene Pictures and Michael Lobell Productions Enlist FilmNation Entertainment to Handle International Sales for Gambit Beginning at EFM in February
(Los Angeles, CA) February 1, 2011 – Cameron Diaz has joined the cast of GAMBIT, the Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit) scripted remake of the 1966 British caper comedy that starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. Michael Hoffman (The Last Station) is directing while Mike Lobell (The Freshman; Honeymoon in Vegas) is producing alongside Crime Scene Pictures partners Adam Ripp and Rob Paris, who are also financing. FilmNation Entertainment will be handling the sales, outside the US beginning at the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin in February.
GAMBIT will begin shooting in May in London. As previously announced, Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) is also attached to star in the project.
Harry Deane (Firth) is a London art curator planning an elaborate scheme to con a wealthy collector into buying a fake Monet painting. In order to dupe the buyer, Deane invents a story and recruits a Texas steer roper, PJ Puznowski (Diaz), to play the part of a woman whose grandfather liberated the painting at the end of WWII.
Diaz recently wrapped Bad Teacher and is currently starring in The Green Hornet. Diaz is repped by CAA.
