Warner Bros. remake of the crime classic The Thin Man starring Johnny Depp is heating up as Jerry Stahl is hired to write the script.

We reported back in October that Johnny Depp was "aggressively courting" his Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides director Rob Marshall to direct The Thin Man remake. Now it seems Rob Marshall has entered negotiations to direct the project.

Johnny Depp will star as Nick Charles, a former private investigator who marries into money and becomes a full-time drunkard and socialite. He gets back into the detective game with his wife when they team up to solve an odd murder case.

The original 1934 The Thin Man, which was adapted from the novel by Dashiell Hammett, starred William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Maureen O'Sullivan. The movie spawned five sequels and a TV series, which aired on NBC from 1957 to 1959.

The Thin Man remake is said to keep the period setting but employ modern-day attitudes. Johnny Depp will produce the remake along with Kevin McCormick and Christi Dembrowski.