I have to admit, when I first heard Michael B. Jordan was stepping into the shoes of Thomas Crown, a role previously brought to life by Pierce Brosnan in 1999 and, before that, Steve McQueen in the 1968 original, it caught my attention. Critics consider The Thomas Crown Affair a classic romantic heist, so I know all eyes will be on Jordan’s version.
The actor, who won his first Academy Award this year for playing Smoke and Stack in Ryan Coogler’s acclaimed film Sinners, also directs the movie set to release in March 2027. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jordan approached MGM with the idea of a new adaptation in 2016. I’m curious to see how this version will set itself apart from the others.
Taylor Russell (Bones and All) was announced as the co-lead in March. However, she left due to creative differences and was replaced with Adria Arjona (Andor). Based on the film’s brief synopsis, the plot resembles the 1999 version of The Thomas Crown Affair more than Steve McQueen’s but retains some of the same elements.
It reads, “Thomas Crown is a billionaire who cleverly steals a painting while another heist fails. Followed by an insurance investigator, the two fall in love during the cat-and-mouse game.”
Kenneth Branagh, Lily Gladstone, Danai Gurira, Aubrey Plaza, Ruth Negga, Pilou Asbæk, Aiysha Hart, and Paapa Essiedu are also part of the cast.
What’s the original Thomas Crown Affair about?
So, in the 1968 movie, Thomas Crown is still a brilliant mastermind. Yet, he’s a millionaire, not a billionaire, and he’s not after expensive paintings. Crown is the ringleader of a five-man bank heist. Though he’s self-made and well-off, Thomas loves the adrenaline doing bad things gives him, which gives him the high of committing this crime. While he creates a plan that seems foolproof, independent investigator Vicki Anderson (Faye Dunaway) is hired by the bank’s insurance company to recover the stolen money, and of course, she’ll get a percentage.
With Crown being charming and attractive and Anderson’s fire, an affair begins (hence the name of the movie), and things get really interesting.
A little bit about the 1999 remake
Pierce Brosnan plays the main character in this version. Rene Russo is the insurance investigator, whose name wasn’t Vicki Anderson as in the 1968 version but Catherine Banning. In this version, Crown is a billionaire who steals the classic impressionist painting San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk.
Header image credit: United Artists/Instagram/@michaelbjordan
