Cameron Diaz is to star opposite Colin Firth in a remake of 1966 crime caper Gambit.

The original film starred Sir Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine and was nominated for three Oscars.

Shooting will begin in May in London on the film, with The Last Station's Michael Hoffman directing from a script written by Joel and Ethan Coen.

The new version tells of an art curator who tries to con a wealthy collector into buying a fake Monet painting.

Diaz, recently seen in action comedy The Green Hornet, will play a Texan rodeo worker roped into the scheme.

The remake will be a marked change of pace for Firth following his Oscar-nominated performance as George VI in The King's Speech.

The British actor has been linked to the project for some time, describing its development in 2007 as a "tortuous process".

"It's a lovely, witty Coen brothers script," he told the BBC news website. "I'm told it's a vast departure from the other film."

Mike Lobell is producing Gambit with Adam Ripp and Rob Paris of Crime Scene Pictures.

Source: Press Release