John Mackenzie is to direct Michael Caine and Michael Keaton in contemporary action thriller Quicksand for UK production outfit Geoff Reeve Films and producer-financier Visionview.

Caine plays a down-on-his-luck film star embroiled in the criminal world on the Cote d'Azur, where he meets Keaton, a banker investigating shady offshore deposits.

Production is scheduled to start early December in New York and the south of France. UK-based Visionview recently secured investment from a series of private sources.

Mackenzie, whose credits include The Long Good Friday, previously directed Caine in The Fourth Protocol. The film also re-unites Caine and Reeve after they collaborated on Shiner, Half Moon Street and The Whistle Blower. Keaton's credits include Batman, Out Of Sight and Jackie Brown.