12/05/2011

A slew of European stars, including Gerard Depardieu, Til Schweiger, Johnny Hallyday and Eric Cantona, will star alongside Kiefer Sutherland, Thomas Jane, and Jon Lovitz in Sleight of Hand, the story of a group of French crooks who take Paris by storm.

US filmmaker Brad Mirman will direct this action comedy. Richard Rionda Del Castro and Gilles Thompson of French company Acteurs, Auteurs, Associes are producing, Patricia Eberle will serve as executive producer. The film will shoot in the French capital from the end of July through mid-September.

Sleight of Hand follows the thieves as they inadvertently end up possessing a rare gold coin belonging to a notorious French gangster. The leader of the gang calls his uncle (Depardieu), a retired criminal, to help them raise the money to repay the gangster. The series of mix-ups and double crosses culminate as the gangs are pitted face-to-face, chasing through Paris.

Hannibal Classics will begin selling the film in Cannes alongside several other new titles.

The announcement fits into a noticeable trend at the Marche du Film this year, in which star-studded casts, with multiple major names headlining a single project, are being presented by independent producers, in a bid to safeguard against losses as the film industry continues to climb out of the recession.