Last month, we reported that director Michael Hoffman (The Last Station) had come on board to helm the Coen Brothers-scripted remake of the 1966 Michael Caine caper comedy Gambit.  Deadline now reports that Oscar nominee Colin Firth is in talks to play the Caine role of a cat burglar who attempts to steal a priceless statue from a billionaire by enlisting the help of a waitress (played in the original by Shirley MacLaine) who looks like the billionaire's deceased wife.

Firth, who is likely to receive an Oscar nomination for his wonderful performance in The King's Speech, is currently developing a film based on the Amanda Knox murder case with director Michael Winterbottom (The Killer Inside Me), and is co-starring in Tomas Alfredson's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.