The Joel and Ethan Coen-penned screenplay Gambit seemed kind of like an abandoned child for a while, the first script the brothers had ever written that they wouldn't be directing. It was a remake of the 1966 action caper film starring Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine, and whether because they wanted to avoid comparisons to their failed romantic comedy Intolerable Cruelty or they were too busy shooting things in the Old West on True Grit, the Coens passed the project on to director Michael Hoffman, who last made The Last Station.

But if Hoffman's name was enough to make the project seem more promising-- he recently worked with Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren, after all-- now things are looking even better. Deadline reports that Colin Firth is in talks to star in the film, as a cat burglar attempting to rob a billionaire with the help of a waitress who's a dead ringer for the mark's ex-wife. It would be an unusually comedic role for Firth, who is currently cruising toward an Oscar nomination as the star of The King's Speech and was in the mix last year for the super-bleak and glamorous A Single Man. The last straightforward comedy Firth starred in was Mamma Mia!, and Lord knows he probably wants to get that one as far back in his resume as possible.

Now we get to start speculating about which A-list actress they'll get to star alongside him. Anyone wanna pull for Rachel Weisz, or is just me?