Brando ponders De Niro film

Brando played the old Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather

Hollywood legend Marlon Brando is negotiating to team up on screen with Robert De Niro for the first time.

Brando and De Niro both won Oscars more than 25 years ago for separate portrayals of mob boss Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather saga.

De Niro was the young Vito in The Godfather, Part II

Now they may be co-starring in a crime drama called The Score for Paramount Pictures, a spokesman for Brando at Creative Artists Agency has confirmed

De Niro and Edward Norton have already signed for the film, which will be directed by Frank Oz.

Norton will play a young criminal who thwarts the retirement plans of a master thief played by De Niro by blackmailing him into pulling off one last heist, while Brando would play the veteran thief's mentor.

Godfather role

Brando created the role of mob patriach Don Vito Corleone in the 1972 Francis Ford Coppola's epic The Godfather, earning himself an Academy Award as best actor.

Brando last significant role was in 1997's The Brave

De Niro won an Oscar as best supporting actor for his portrayal of a young Corleone in the 1974 sequel The Godfather, Part II. However, the pair have never worked together on a movie.

Based on Mario Puzo's novel, the Godfather trilogy follows the handing down of power between successive generations of the Corleone family.

US entertainment industry newspaper Daily Variety says The Score is being produced by Mandalay Pictures with filming scheduled to start in April in Montreal.

Now 75, Brando's last movie was the low-key comedy Free Money in 1998 co-starring Charlie Sheen. His last significant appearance was in 1997's The Brave, directed by and starring Johnny Depp.

De Niro, 56, was last seen as a stroke victim in last year's drama Flawless, directed by Joel Schumacher.