"We've knocked the story into shape," Cleese told the Telegraph. "We're going to try a few lyrics and if it turns out we are no good – which is what I expect – we'll get a new lyricist in. Right now we're working on the story and trying to figure out where the songs should go. It's very early days, though."

Jaime Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin and Tom Georgeson appeared in the film that follows a group of diamond thieves who become involved in a series of hilarious double-crosses to keep the loot all to themselves.

Cleese has appeared in the Broadway productions of Half a Sixpence and Cambridge Circus. He also serves as the voice of "God" in Spamalot, which is based on his screenplay of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."