Eva Longoria is set to star in the reboot of 'Overboard'.

Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria

The 42-year-old actress - most famous for portraying Gabrielle Solis in US drama 'Desperate Housewives' - is to co-star opposite Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez in the remake of the 1987 American romantic comedy film.

Bob Fisher and Rob Greenberg are overseeing the project, which is based on the original flick that starred Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell - who began dating in 1983 - with the new film being worked on with MGM/ Pantelion Films, according to Deadline.

Longoria will portray Theresa, the employer of a woman called Kate, a waitress at a pizza restaurant, who is a close family friend.

The plot follows a rich woman who hires a handyman to work on her yacht.

Things soon turn nasty when they have a massive bust-up and she ends up throwing the carpenter overboard and landing in the water herself.

The film takes a twist when they end up falling in love.

The remake will see the reversal of the leading roles with the story focusing on a spoiled playboy, portrayed by Derbez, who is from one of Mexico's wealthiest families who falls overboard, forgets his memory and is convinced by single, working mother Faris that he is her husband.

MGM Motion Picture Group President Jonathan Glickman said: "The original 'Overboard' was beloved and the only way to bring it back is to reinvent the story in a whole new way. Anna and Eugenio are two of the most charismatic forces in comedy whose take on the material will modernize the story for a whole new generation of moviegoers."

The new movie will be co-directed and written by 'How I Met Your Mother's' Greenberg and 'We're the Millers' Fisher. Whilst Ben Odell and Derbez are producing through 3Pas Studios.

Production is expected to start in May in Vancouver.