I don’t think it’s a big secret that much of the excitement one may feel towards Gambit is due to the fact that it was written by none other than Joel and Ethan Coen. A remake of the 1966 film of the same name – which starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine – it’s directed by Michael Hoffman (after Doug Liman was close to taking the job), and stars Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz. Production began on May 5th in London, and now we’ve gotten our first look at the movie in progress.

CBS Films have released the first image from the movie (via ComingSoon), which you can see above. It’s not a whole lot to take in – it looks like a photo simply taken on the set – but it’s nice to finally have something. If you really want more, I expect other things to show up in the near future, with a trailer likely to hit within the next few months.

On the casting front, THR says that both Stanley Tucci and Cloris Leachman have joined the movie’s cast. Who exactly they’ll be playing hasn’t been specified, but it’s one of the the only pieces of casting we’ve heard that isn’t for the lead roles. The other one happens to be pretty good– Alan Rickman will be playing the rich man who Firth and Diaz try to steal from, and he’s an actor that we always want to see more of. Basically, while my anticipation for this isn’t very high, I’ve at least been impressed by the talent they’ve pulled in.

Plot: A cat burglar who tries to rob a billionaire of his priceless statue and enlists the help of a waitress who is a dead ringer for the victim’s late wife. While the burglar has carefully planned the job in his head, the execution is complicated by his relationship with his pretty accomplice.

Gambit is expected to see a release in 2012.

What do you think of this first look, as well as the new additions to the cast? Do you want to see Gambit? Have you seen the original, and were you a fan of it?