Colin Firth is reuniting with his "Shakespeare in Love" director John Madden for the WWII drama "Operation Mincemeat" in the real-life story of how a dead man helped trick the Nazis into expecting an invasion on the wrong front.

It's based on the best-selling book by Ben Macintyre of the same name. (If the story sounds familiar, it's because it also inspired the 1956 British film "The Man Who Never Was.")

Firth will play British intelligence officer Ewen Montagu, who devised the clever scheme to plant a dead man with false invasion plans.

"In the context of WW2 narratives, the story of 'Operation Mincemeat' is unique — a bizarre and seductive cinematic blend of high-level espionage and ingenious fiction, where the stakes could hardly be higher,” Madden said in a statement.

"It tells a richly human story of the soldiers we seldom see, who fight a different kind of war in shadows and deception, haunted by the knowledge that certainty and guarantee of success are nowhere to be found," the Oscar-winning director added.

Michelle Ashford ("Masters of Sex," "The Pacific") adapted the screenplay, and the film is expected to go into pre-production later this year.]

Madden's other films include "Miss Sloane," "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," and "The Debt."

[Via The Wrap]