Actress Julia Roberts gestures after accepting the 22nd American Cinematheque Award in Beverly Hills, California Oct. 12, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

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BEIJING, Nov. 2 -- Julia Roberts and Clive Owen will join forces as longtime lovers and rival corporate spies who team to pull off an elaborate con in "Duplicity."

Tony Gilroy, who made his directorial debut with "Michael Clayton," which also takes a look at corporate intrigue, will direct the Universal project from his own screenplay.

The project, expected to begin shooting early next year, will be the second joint effort for the actors, who appeared as a troubled couple in Mike Nichols' "Closer" in 2004.

Roberts will next be seen in "Charlie Wilson's War," which Universal is releasing December 25. Owen appears onscreen in Universal's "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."

(Source: China Daily/