While all eyes are diverted to J.J. Abram’s mysterious Super 8, there’s another project the director has running at Paramount, an untitled heist movie based on a series of articles by Joshua Davis about the 2003 Antwerp Diamond Heist, and a nugget of news has dropped today – the project has a writer.
HeatVision are naming Phil Alden Robinson as the man Abrams has entrusted with adapting the Davis articles into a full on heist movie, and there’s plenty to work with.
Here’s a quote from the introduction to the original articles and there’s enough here to get you interested right away.
In February 2003, [Leonardo] Notarbartolo was arrested for heading a ring of Italian thieves. They were accused of breaking into a vault two floors beneath the Antwerp Diamond Center and making off with at least $100 million worth of loose diamonds, gold, jewelry, and other spoils. The vault was thought to be impenetrable. It was protected by 10 layers of security, http://onhealthy.net/product-category/adhd/ including infrared heat detectors, Doppler radar, a magnetic field, a seismic sensor, and a lock with 100 million possible combinations. The robbery was called the heist of the century, and even now the police can’t explain exactly how it was done.
The loot was never found, but based on circumstantial evidence, Notarbartolo was sentenced to 10 years. He has always denied having anything to do with the crime and has refused to discuss his case with journalists, preferring to remain silent for the past six years.
Until now.
Robinson’s previous work includes the whimsical classic Field of Dreams, which found its way into our video vault recently, and the computer espionage thriller Sneakers, both of which he wrote and directed, so there’s previous form which may have swayed Abrams’ decision.
As the script is just rumbling into production there’s no director fixed yet, perhaps Abrams himself will find time to make this one?
