The first big deal at the Berlin Film Festival goes to Alliance Films, which pre-bought multi-territory rights to the Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz-starrer Gambit from FilmNation Entertainment.

Montreal-based Alliance picked up the caper film from director Michael Hoffman and script-writers Joel and Ethan Coen for all three of its major territories, Canada, the UK and Spain.

Alliance Films did well by FilmNation after picking up The King’s Speech (pictured), which also stars Colin Firth.

Gambit will shot in London from this May.

The 1966 original Gambit movie starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine.

The remake feature will see Firth play a London art curator who hatches a scheme to deceive a collector into buying a fake Monet, and recruits help from a woman, played by Diaz, who happens to look like the wealthy man’s late wife.