You know as well as I do that Jeremy Renner is a busy man, but he just added yet another project and it sounds like one of the most interesting yet: King of Heists. In it he’ll play George Leslie, a brilliant man who quite literally engineered his bank heists (he was a successful architect and businessman who gave it all up for more challenging crime), and is one of the most successful organized criminals of all time. He oversaw hundreds of bank robberies and accumulated millions of dollars in the late 19th century, all until he was found murdered, most likely for banging another criminal’s girlfriend.
The script will be written by Will Staples, based on the non-fiction book by J. North Conway. It will focus on a particular multi-year scheme in which Leslie moved to New York and spent three years casing the Manahattan Savings Institution, and ultimately robbing it of just under $3m. While in the city he fell in love with a 15-year-old woman who he married and shared time with among the New York upper class, with no one the wiser of his illicit career.
I’m not sure what kind of tone this film will take, but it’s certainly a fascinating character to base a project around. The double-life that Leslie led could lead to a more quirky, Catch Me If You Can style film, or a focus on the gritty exploration of his schemes and his crew could lead to something very different. Hopefully it will be something very fresh and exciting, as there’s nothing more entertaining than a good heist film.
source | deadline
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