Katrina Kaif and Abhishek Bachchan to team up for 'Italian Job' remake

Abbas-Mastan have finalized Katrina Kaif, Abhishek Bachchan and Neil Nitin Mukesh to headline their much anticipated remake of Hollywood's Italian Job (2003).
The director duo confirmed the attachment of the three stars for the film for which they have acquired rights from Paramount Pictures. The 2003 film was in turn a remake of the similarly named 1969 British film.

The trio will reprise the roles played by Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton and Charlize Theron.

Back in July, it was reported that Saif Ali Khan will feature alongside Neil, but obviously that has changed now.

The film is about a team of thieves who plan to steal gold bullion from a former associate who double crossed them. The film shows the thieves pull off the flawless heist by creating Los Angeles largest traffic jam ever by tapping into the city's traffic control system.

The rest of the cast and crew for the Studio 18 production is yet to be finalized.

Abbas Mastan say they got this project because Studio 18 was impressed with their action sequences in Race (2008), starring Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Katrina Kaif and Bipasha Basu. The film will be seriously revamped and Indianized but retain its cult mode.

"Our producers are willing to go all out. No expenses will be spared to make sure our The Italian Job is as good as the original," said Abbas-Mastan.

Aishwarya walks out of Abhishek's Crooked

Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s production Crooked is set to go on the floors from January 14 next year. However, the Abhishek Bachchan starrer has no lead actress as Aishwarya, who was supposed to do the film, opted out citing date problems. Her dates for Crooked were colliding with Vipul Shah’s Action Replay. Since Action Replay is inching towards completion, Aishwarya had to give it priority, leaving her with no choice but to opt out of Crooked, directed by Abhinay Deo. It is a thriller which will be shot at different foreign locales.
Meanwhile, Farhan’s other production directed by Zoya Akhtar featuring Hrithik Roshan, Farhan and Abhay Deol is also stuck as it has no lead actress. The film’s shooting starts from April 5 in Spain. Ritesh says, “We are now looking for a completely new face in Crooked, which actually requires three new girls. We also need a fresh face either from London or New York for Hrithik in Zoya’s film.”

Farhan says, “Hrithik has been a true friend. I start directing Don 3 from September 2010, so Zoya’s film had to be completed before that. Hrithik adjusted his dates accordingly.”