Danai Gurira is reuniting with her Black Panther co-star Michael B. Jordan for the Jordan-fronted reimagining of The Thomas Crown Affair.
Jordan is not only starring in the romantic heist thriller but directing as well as producing with his Outlier Society banner. The company’s Elizabeth Raposo is also producing, as is veteran producer Charles Roven of Atlas Entertainment.
Production begins Monday in London, and the project just added Academy Award winner Kenneth Branagh and Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone to its call sheet. Taylor Russell is also in the cast.
The original Thomas Crown, made by United Artists in 1968, starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway and involved a man who organizes bank robberies for sport but meets his match when he falls for (or maybe not) the insurance investigator hot on his tail. The 1999 remake starred Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.
Sources say this time the action is taking place in Europe, while still keeping the art-thieving theme.
Jordan is playing the billionaire with the art-loving sticky fingers, while Russell is the suave private detective. Character details for Gladstone and Branagh are being kept under the umbrella.
According to sources, Gurira will play Jordan’s confidante.
Amazon MGM has set a March 5, 2027 theatrical release for the romantic thriller.
Drew Pearce wrote the script for Thomas Crown after a previous draft written by Wes Tooke and Justin Britt-Gibson, which was based on the original film.
Patrick McCormick and Toberoff Productions’ Marc Toberoff will also serve as producers. Alan Trustman, who wrote of the original 1968 film, is an executive producer.
Gurira may be best known for playing Wakandan general and master warrior Okoye in Marvel’s Black Panther and Avengers movies. It was a role for which she won a People’s Choice Award, an NAACP Image Award and a shared SAG Award. She squared off against Jordan in the first Panther, in which the latter played a usurper to the Wakandan throne.
On the small screen, she gained a fan following for playing the katana-wielding zombie killer Michonne in AMC’s The Walking Dead and recently co-created, executive produced and starred in last year’s spinoff, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
The actress will next be seen in Apple TV+’s upcoming film Matchbox, based on Mattel’s iconic toy vehicle line opposite John Cena.
Gurira is repped by UTA, Suskin/Karshan Management, and Jackoway Austen.
