Gerard Butler has replaced Eric Bana as the lead actor in a diamond heist thriller entitled "Brilliant."

The "300" star will play a small-time crook who gets dragged into a major robbery in Robert Luketic's upcoming thriller. Bana was first linked to the role back in September 2011.

However, the Australian actor has since been recruited to a still-untitled terrorism thriller from "Intermission" director John Crowley.

The film marks Butler and Luketic's reunion for the first time since their 2009 romantic comedy "The Ugly Truth." Cameron Diaz will portray Butler's female accomplice in "Brilliant" and according to Variety, a female lead is still to be recruited.

Butler's reported signing comes after the 42-year-old actor completed a three-week rehab program to battle a prescription drug dependency. He was last seen in Marc Foster's "Machine Gun Preacher," where he portrayed a drug-dealing biker-turned-protector of Sudanese child soldiers.

Robert Luketic has spent most of his career directing chick flicks like "Legally Blonde," "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton," "Monster-in-Law" and "Killers." However, he showed a brief glimpse of what he can do outside that genre with "21," the Vegas card-counting film starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey.

This year, he will be able to again step outside of romantic comedies with "Brilliant," a diamond heist thriller. It has been reported that Eric Bana was in negotiations to play the lead role but according to Variety, Bana's negotiations fell through and now Luketic is slated to reunite with actor Gerard Butler instead.

The storyline follows a small-time criminal, who partners with a female thief, to pull off a daring diamond heist. Producers are still searching for the female lead and they only have a few months to track someone down because filming begins in Boston this May.

Butler is wasting no time getting back to work after a brief stint in rehab and it is good to have him back on the right track. With the Boston setting and heist element, "Brilliant" is starting to sound a bit like "The Town," which could be good for the film's benefit.