To call this year’s “Trance” a heist flick would be a bit misleading. Yes, it centers around a major theft, but that twisty genre effort from Danny Boyle was more of a psychosexual mindbender, and regardless, audiences barely showed up with the movie taking in a rather meagre $22 million worldwide (a drop from the $60 million take of “127 Hours” and a far cry from the $377 million sensation “Slumdog Millionaire“). But Fox Searchlight and Pathé Pictures are still believers, and this time, they want Boyle to steal something straight up.
The director is attached to helm a feature film adaptation of the documentary, “Smash and Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers.” Apparently, it was released earlier this year (seemed to miss our attention at least), but it told the true story behind from immensely successful diamond thieves who participated in the doc, and assisted by actual surveillance footage, provided an insider’s look at the underbelly of the illegal jewel trade. Apparently Boyle was a fan of the documentary and chased this one down, and undoubtedly it’s the same unique approach he’d like to take.
No word yet on who will pen the script, and this seems to be just brewing at the moment so we’ll have to see how it develops. But Boyle is busy anyhow, with a gig directing the forthcoming Channel 4 cop series “Babylon.” [Variety]
