Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Al Pacino and Danny DeVito starring in film noir Sniff

Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, Dame Helen Mirren and Danny DeVito are set to star in 'Sniff'.

The upcoming movie - which has been described as a reinvention of the film noir - is helmed by 'Ray' director Taylor Hackford, based on a script by Tom Grey.

The movie will follow detective Joe Mulwray (Freeman) and his partner William Keys (DeVito) as they investigate a luxury retirement community following the mysterious deaths of two residents.

Although the case seems ordinary at first, it quickly takes a turn with the pair uncovering a secret underworld of drugs, sex and murder.

This is all controlled by senior living community "kingpin" Harvey Stride (Pacino) alongside his enforcer The Spider (Mirren).

As reported by Deadline, Hackford said: "I have always been a big fan of film noir but haven’t really made one.

“The whole concept of setting a film noir in an upscale retirement community… these are proliferating all over the United States as the baby boomer generation gets to retirement.

"There’s a lot of money, and people want to live in a beautiful setting. Those are on the brochures, but what Tom Grey did was show what was lurking below the surface.”

He added that the writer has managed to hone in on "the nature of good noir", and explained how his co-producers Adam Goodman and Matt Skiena - who serve through their Dichotomy Creative Group - got him on board.

He said: "I thought it was a brilliant idea and he understood the nature of good noir — the dark story, the incredibly twisted characters — and I thought he had a great handle.

"Adam and Matt said, ‘It’s yours if you want to run with it.’ I met the writer, Tom Grey, we clicked and worked on it together, him writing and me putting ideas in.”