Andy Garcia has been working on his new film for 20 years.

The actor, writer and director, 70, has found a global distributor for his long-awaited passion project Diamond, with Sony Pictures Classics acquiring worldwide rights to the noir crime drama following its premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

It Comes after Andy has spent almost two decades developing the independent film, which he wrote, directed and stars in as Joe Diamond, a mysterious investigator whose traumatic past and extraordinary powers of observation enable him to solve crimes beyond the reach of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Sony Pictures Classics announced it had secured worldwide rights to the film, excluding France, Germany, Italy and the CIS territories.

The acquisition comes as Andy, best known for The Godfather Part III, The Untouchables and the Ocean's heist trilogy, continues to balance acting roles with his long-standing ambitions as a filmmaker. Diamond also reunites him with an ensemble cast including Vicky Krieps, Brendan Fraser, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Murray, Dustin Hoffman, Demián Bichir and LaTanya Richardson Jackson.

Andy told Variety: "I've been working on this story for close to 20 years.

"This is not unusual for personal films in the independent world. Stories take time to unfold. They haunt you, as you continue to work on them. When they are ready, in their own time, the movie gods open the window of opportunity.

"Perhaps we exhaust them with our persistence and that great obstacle is overcome by the dream. So they give up and bless you with this extraordinary cast to tell your story.

"Dreams sometimes do come true. As Joe Diamond, the protagonist in our story states, 'Dreams are a way of escaping your reality, unless those dreams are your reality'."

Diamond debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, where Garcia introduced the project he has described as a deeply personal labour of love.

In addition to writing, directing and starring in the film, Andy composed its original score with his long-time collaborator Arturo Sandoval.

Sony Pictures Classics has not announced a release date for the film.

In a statement, the studio described Diamond as "one of those great Phillip Marlowe private eye crime mysteries of the past, full of surprises, filled with colourful, rich characters", adding "audiences will love it".

The film was produced by Andy's company CineSon alongside Jai Stefan for Shrink Media, Frank Mancuso Jr. for FGM Entertainment and Paul Soriano for Black Cap Pictures and Ten17P.

Financing and executive production came from Black Cap Pictures and Nexis Entertainment.

Executive producers include John Ahn, Wendy Lee and Nino Cuccinello, alongside Oscura Film's Marco Vicini and Fernando Tsai.

The distribution agreement was negotiated between Sony Pictures Classics and CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers, while The Veterans handled international rights.

Andy has remained a familiar presence on screen in recent years, appearing in projects including Book Club: The Next Chapter and Expend4bles, while Diamond marks his return behind the camera with his first feature directing effort in two decades.