Caine may swap roles for remake of 'Sleuth'

The actor Jude Law and the playwright Harold Pinter are to join forces for a new screen version of Anthony Shaffer's play Sleuth.

And they could bring in Sir Michael Caine, who starred in the first screen version with Laurence Olivier. He is said to have suggested the revival to Law, with Caine swapping roles from the one for which he was nominated for an Oscar in 1972.

The stage play was a huge success for Shaffer in the 1960s and he adapted it for the screen version, which also drew Oscar nominations for Olivier and the director, Joseph Mankiewicz. The intricate plot involves a brilliant writer who plans revenge on a hairdresser who has stolen his wife and the battle of wits between the two, involving themes of power and sexual politics.

Sleuth ran for eight years and more than 2,000 performances in the West End, then transferred to Broadway for another 2,000 performances and a Tony award for best play.

In the movie, Caine played the hairdresser and, according to Variety, would take on the writer role, with Law as the hairdresser. Law is reported to be co-producing the film and made the approach to Pinter. The playwright, who has not seen the original version, is basing his adaptation on the play itself.

Shaffer, who died in 2001, also wrote the cult thriller The Wicker Man and screenplays for the films of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile and Evil under the Sun.