After years busting his ass in costume dramas and losing (onscreen)
ladies to the Brothers Fiennes, Colin Firth is coming into his own. He
narrowly lost an Oscar last year for A Single Man, but is sweeping the critical awards for The King’s Speech.
And
if he doesn’t take the gold, he may get the next best (and award
lovin’) thing — a role in a Coen Bros movie. According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Firth is in talks to star in the Coen Bros and Michael Hoffman’s remake of Gambit.
But
wait! Isn’t this old news? Kind of. Firth and the Coens have been
dancing around this film for years. The prolific siblings have been
hashing out a script and rumor had it they were so exhausted by the
process that they shelved the film. But now it’s on again. I guess
hanging with Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin will wind you up just right.
The
original 1966 British action-comedy starred Michael Caine and Shirley
MacLaine. It’s centered on a cat burglar named Harry Dean, who dreams up
the perfect crime. (Literally dreams it.) He wants to steal a
priceless statue from a billionaire, and recruits a dancer who is an
eerie lookalike for the billionaire’s dead wife. Of course, it all goes
wrong from the start. It’s ripe for the Coen Bros’ love of dark
screwball comedy, and it would be perfect for Firth. He’s actually a
really funny man, and rarely gets to let his dry wit out to play
onscreen.
Of course, the last time they tackled a remake of a
British comedy didn’t go so well … but let’s not hold them to the
past, especially since they’re only producing, and especially since they’ve proven they can remake John Wayne. If
you ask me, 1-1 on remakes is a pretty good balance.