Burr Steers To Helm 'Gambit' Remake

[Monday, November 11th, 2002]
Director Burr Steers ("Igby Goes Down") will rewrite and direct "Gambit," Universal's remake of the 1966 British caper picture that starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine, reports Variety.

He will work off a remake script by filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, who wrote it early this year as a potential starring vehicle for Hugh Grant.

The film revolves around a British thief who conspires with a beautiful woman to rob a rich guy's expensive statue The heist is complicated by a series of double crosses.

"It is a wickedly funny piece that is ready to go," said Steers. "I'll do a rewrite, but I'm working from a script by the Coens that makes you laugh out loud. It's a great mix of updated screwball comedy and sophisticated slapstick. The trick will be to find a cast with the chemistry that Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine had in the original."

No "Gambit" lead has been set. He acknowledged, though, that a British actor will be cast in the lead role, and Grant is certainly atop the list of Brits who topline sophisticated comedies.

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