I could never clear out the genre pantheon and choose one preferred
mode over all others. But if I had to, it might be the heist movie. The tension and machinery of a good heist movie makes it stand out from everything else, and the specifics of heist construction are rigorous and defining, while allowing for great improvisation and character freedom. So general disinterest in J.J. Abrams aside, I’m excited about a feature adaptation of next month’s Wired article The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist.
The article’s author, Joshua Davis, spent months interviewing Italian thief Leonardo Notarbartolo in a Belgian prison about his role as leader of a heist that skirted ten layers of security at the Antwerp Diamond Center to steal roughly $100m worth of diamonds, gold and jewels. In the interview, the thief reportedly tells all details of the heist. The loot has never been recovered. Notarbartolo was released from prison this week.
Davis is a producer on the film, which will be set up by Abrams’ Bad Robot, perhaps as a directorial project for Abrams. A writer hasn’t been hired.