It's the big screen version of one of the most iconic TV shows of all time. You know the one, about four Vietnam vets on the run for a crime they didn't commit, who help out struggling Davids against mean old Goliaths who want to kill them/maim them/run their businesses into the ground.

Details of the actual plot are vague, although it's safe to say that the guys are no longer Vietnam vets, but veterans of the first Gulf War. Carnahan is also apparently planning to jettison the show's frothy, light, even campy tone in favour of something closer to the feel of the Ocean's movies, or the Mission: Impossible big-screen efforts. Which makes sense, although if the new movie doesn't at least pay lip service to Hannibal's penchant for ridiculous disguises, or the need to drug B.A. with milk so they can get him onto a plane, we'll be sorely disappointed.

Two, its characters were pretty much the perfect ensemble. You had the vain ladies' man ('Faceman', played by Dirk Benedict; we always loved the bit in the credit sequence where a Cylon walks past the ex-Battlestar Galactica star), the deranged loon who may not be as deranged as he wants people to think he is ('Howling Mad' Murdock, played by Dwight Schultz), the big, black, head-buster (B.A. Baracus, making a superstar out of Mr. T) who came complete with a dozen catchphrases and an aversion to aviation, and the cool-as-a-cucumber, cigar-chewing leader who had a plan for every sticky situation (Hannibal Smith, played by the late, great George Peppard). Stereotypes all, but they knitted together perfectly.

Third, it was enjoyably escapist nonsense, not to mention hugely influential (MacGuyver, for example, is a one-man A-Team, able to fashion a device to escape any trap from just a mango and three paperclips). And even though it only ran for four years and 97 episodes, not even enough to guarantee syndication, it became a truly iconic show that dominated and defined millions of childhoods. 20th Century Fox's been trying to turn it into a movie for years… and now it looks like they might actually succeed…

Director Joe Carnahan

The Hangover's Bradley Cooper is starring as Faceman

Liam Neeson will star as Hannibal Smith

Joe Carnahan (Narc, Smokin' Aces) will direct, from a script by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, the writers of the mental action flick Wanted. Carnahan replaced John Singleton in the director's chair when the latter left in October 2008. When Singleton left, he took Tyrese Gibson, who was set to fill Mr. T's gold chains and Mohawk as B.A., with him.

At the time of writing, the roles of B.A. and Murdock have yet to be filled, but the other two-fourths (or, if you will insist, one-half) of The A-Team has been cast, with The Hangover's Bradley Cooper on board as Faceman and, in a spot of brilliant casting, the commanding and kick-ass Liam Neeson down to play Hannibal Smith, a role with which the likes of Bruce Willis, George Clooney and Mel Gibson had been linked in the past. Neeson's casting indicates an awareness that the brand name is a big enough draw to get by without any mega-salaries. Which pretty much rules out those persistent Jim Carrey-as-Murdock rumours.

Expect a bad guy and at least one love interest to get the casting nod in the coming weeks. Will the film use the show's recurring thorn-in-the-side, Col. Decker, who relentlessly hunted the A-Team? We'll have to wait to see…

Producer Stephen J. Cannell, who created the TV show and who is famous for his company ident, has been shepherding the project through development at Fox. Intriguingly, Ridley and Tony Scott are also on board as producers…