“Ocean’s 8” isn’t the only female-led heist story in the works. “Thor: Ragnarok” star Tessa Thompson has signed on to star in a biopic about legendary American jewel thief Doris Payne, Variety reports. Currently untitled, the feature will be produced by Thompson and Codeblack Films’ Jeff Clanagan. No word on who will pen the script or direct just yet.
Payne is best known for stealing a 10-carat diamond ring worth $500,000 in Monte Carlo in the 1970s. Her criminal record traces back all the way to the 1950s, and includes many arrests — one as recently as 2017. Payne is now 87 years old. She’s “admitted to having used 20 aliases, 10 Social Security numbers, and nine dates of birth,” the source notes.
The untitled pic is described as “a high-concept action-drama in the vein of ‘Catch Me If You Can’ and ‘The Thomas Crown Affair.’”
Payne’s story was told in 2013 doc “The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne,” which featured interviews with her.
“Westworld,” “Creed,” and “Selma” are among Thompson’s credits. She’s said that her breakout role in 2014’s “Dear White People” made a significant impact on how she chooses projects. “I honestly felt like I hadn’t played a role like that before — it was multi-protagonist, and you had all these different ideas of what it is to be black,” she recalled. “I just felt so passionately about the script. Getting to do it really changed my trajectory in the sense where I felt like, once I understood what that feeling is just to burn for something, I didn’t want to do anything after that I didn’t feel the same way about. That’s been the way I’ve approached looking at material since.”
The vocal #TimesUp supporter’s upcoming projects include “Annihilation,” a sci-fi about a group of female scientists who go on a mysterious expedition, “Furlough,” a comedy that follows an inmate granted one weekend out of prison to see her dying mother and the correction officer who accompanies her on the trip, and “Little Woods,” a modern Western co-starring “Cinderella’s” Lily James.
