Los Angeles (AFP) - Screen legend Jack Nicholson is to make his first movie since 2010 after being tempted out of retirement by an English-language remake of the Oscar-nominated German comedy Toni Erdmann, according to the American entertainment media.

The 79-year-old will star alongside comic Kristen Wiig in Paramount Pictures' remake of German director Maren Ade's film, Variety magazine reported.

Adam McKay, who directed The Big Short (2015), will produce alongside Wiig and actor Will Ferrell, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The idea for the remake originated with Nicholson, who approached Paramount and was immediately given the green light.

Toni Erdmann, a bittersweet father-daughter tale that races to a touching and riotously funny final act, is a frontrunner in the Best Foreign Language Film category at this year's Academy Awards.

Three-time Oscar-winner Nicholson was believed to have retired. He has been absent from the big screen since he appeared alongside Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd in James L. Brooks's 2010 romantic comedy How do You Know.