Johnny Depp is to reunite with Rob Marshall, director of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides for a remake of the classic 1934 comedy The Thin Man, according to the Thompson on Hollywood blog.

WS Van Dyke's much-loved film, based on Dashiell Hammett's mystery novel, centres on a flirtatious, bantering married couple who work together to solve a mystery. Depp will play Nick Charles, a hard-drinking, droll, retired detective forced back into service by his friend's disappearance and possible involvement in a murder. Top priority for Marshall, also producing with partner John DeLuca, will be securing an A-list actor to portray his witty wife Nora, a wealthy heiress. The pair were played by William Powell and Myrna Loy in the original film.

"John and I are overjoyed at the idea of working with Johnny again, especially on such a classy and classic project," said Marshall. "We are also thrilled to be partnering this time with such wonderful producers as Christi Dembrowski [also Depp's sister] and Kevin McCormick, and we are looking forward to working with Warner Bros to create a reinvention of a beloved story."

The original Thin Man was nominated for best film among four Oscar nominations in 1935 and was added to the US National Film Registry in 1997, having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It spawned five sequels, After the Thin Man (1936), Another Thin Man (1939), Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) and Song of the Thin Man (1947). The skinny chap of the title was commonly thought to refer to Charles, but was in fact a reference to the missing friend of the first movie.

As well as securing his Nora, Marshall will also be keen to lock down a top name animal actor to play Asta, the Charles's beloved wire-haired fox terrier.