Dustin Hoffman's signed up to join Ealing Studios' film version of Nightwork, which is good news for all those who love total legends appearing in thriller adaptations. The 1974 book by Irwin Shaw has one of those promising premises that should work well on screen.
Here's the basic plot: a former pilot called Douglas Grimes, grounded after his eyesight deteriorates, is living in a dodgy hotel in New York when he finds a dead naked guy on the 6th floor. Catch is that the dead naked guy (whether he's also an ugly naked guy remains to be seen) has $100,000* in his possession, which Doug takes for himself. With the money's owners in hot pursuit, however, a slick con-artist called Miles Fabian (and if we were betting types here, we might guess that that's Hoffman's role, what with Ealing describing the hero as a young man) hanging around and a bit of baggage confusion when he heads off to ritz it up in Europe, things aren't going to go smoothly for our hero.
William Davies, one of the screenwriters on the excellent How To Train Your Dragon, is writing the film, but there's no word on director or other cast yet.
*May be adjusted upwards for inflation, what with the book being 36 years old.