Helen Mirren signs for 'Brighton Rock'

Rex Features

Helen Mirren has signed up to star in the remake of classic British crime drama Brighton Rock.

The original 1947 film starred a young Richard Attenborough as criminal Pinkie Brown, who is forced to marry a waitress when she stumbles on a murder linked to his gang. Control's Sam Riley is in the lead role, with Andrea Riseborough playing his wife Rose.

Pete Postlethwaite has also joined the cast as Phil Cokery, the husband of Mirren's Ida, who wants to save Rose from Pinkie.

Screenwriter Rowan Joffe (28 Weeks Later) is making his directoral debut on the movie.

"We're making Brighton Rock as contemporary as we possibly can because the story feels 'modern'. It's too alive, too vibrant and too relevant to be contained in the late '30s," Joffe told Screen Daily.

Optimum Releasing and BBC Films are behind the remake, which begins production in London and Brighton on October 18.