CBS Films Plans A "Gambit"

CBS Films has now acquired North American rights to the upcoming reboot of the 1966 heist comedy "Gambit", to star Oscar winner Colin Firth ("The King's Speech") and Cameron Diaz ("The Mask"). Screenplay is by the Coen Brothers ("True Grit") for director Michael Hoffman ("The Last Station").

Premise follows a London art expert (Firth) who aims to con a collector into purchasing a fake Monet. To help push the ruse, the man finds an American woman (Diaz), to claim that her grandfather liberated the painting at the end of World War Two.

With financing from Crime Scene Pictures, the new "Gambit" will start shooting May 2011 in London, UK, produced by Mike Lobell.

The original "Gambit" was directed by Ronald Neame, from a screenplay by Jack Davies/Alvin Sargent, based on an original story by Sidney Carroll.

Actors Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine starred as two criminals involved in an elaborate plot centered on a priceless antiquity owned by millionaire 'Mr Shahbandar', played by Herbert Lom.

The film is told in a reverse chronological order, with a twist at the beginning of the story that is not revealed until the end, resulting in a punchline, marketed with the headline, "Go Ahead Tell The End - It's Too Hysterical To Keep Secret - But Please Don't Tell The Beginning!"

"...Cockney cat burglar 'Harry Dean' and exotic Hong Kong showgirl 'Nicole Chang' are seen executing a masterfully planned robbery of a priceless antiquity owned by 'Mr. Shahbandar', the world's richest man.

"However, it turns out that this foolproof scheme is only in Harry's head for now, still in the planning stage. When he and Nicole set out to pull off the actual heist, everything that possibly could go wrong does..."

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