Coming off his success, and criminally underrated performance, in Creed, Michael B. Jordan is currently one of Hollywood’s hot young actors. It’s not surprising that a studio wants to scoop him up for a big movie. What is a little surprising, is that the project is so early in development that all they have at this point is a lead actor and an idea. A remake of The Thomas Crowne Affair.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project is in such early development that there is no director or writer at this point, just Michael B. Jordan and the plan to remake the classic heist movie. MGM is the studio behind the remake and, as they were also the studio that produced Creed they apparently see a lot of potential in Jordan and want to be sure that he continues to make movies for them.
The original Thomas Crowne Affair was released in 1968 and starred Steve McQueen as the titular millionaire businessman who orchestrates a bank robbery investigated by Faye Dunaway. The two meet as part of her investigation and, though she knows he’s guilty of the crime, they begin an affair. The movie has already been remade once. In 1999, Pierce Brosnan took over the role of Thomas Crowne opposite Rene Russo as the insurance investigator. The bank robbery was swapped for an elaborate art heist, and the ending, something of a downer in the original, was also changed to be significantly more upbeat.
Hollywood has been criticized recently for its lack of diversity and this may be an intentional step toward slowly making that change. There’s no reason that Thomas Crowne needs to be a white guy, so that’s a change that studios can make to give another actor a chance to shine in a role that might not otherwise have been available. It will also give Michael B. Jordan a chance to try out a role that we haven’t really seen him in before. Thomas Crowne has always been a super rich guy who commits crimes mostly just to see if he’ll get away with it. It will be a departure from Johnny Storm and Adonis Creed, to be sure.
What do you think of a new Thomas Crowne Affair with Michael B. Jordan? Could this be a unique spin on the tale, or is it simply too soon to be remaking this one again?
