Deadline is reporting that Universal Pictures has acquired the rights to ‘Breaking the Bank’ as a project for director Gareth Evans.
Evans directed ‘The Raid’ aka ‘The Raid: Redemption’ and if you haven’t seen it yet you are missing out on one of the best action/martial arts films ever made (check out our review here).
Hit the jump for more details on the film.
The drama is based on the book ‘Heist: The True Story of the World’s Biggest Cash Robbery’ by Howard Sounes, and the Sports Illustrated article ‘Breaking the Bank’ by L. Jon Wertheim.
The plot will draw from the life of former UFC fighter Lee ‘Lightning’ Murray (pictured above), a mixed martial arts street brawler who masterminded the largest cash heist in history in England in 2006 that inspired the publications.
The film was originally being developed by Darren Aronofsky who dropped out to direct the biblical epic ‘Noah’ with Russell Crowe.
No word on when Evans will start production on the film because he’ll be overseeing the US remake of ‘The Raid’ as a producer, that’s currently in the works at Screen Gems. He’s also making a sequel to ‘The Raid’ called ‘Berandal’ that will be released in the US as ‘The Raid: Retaliation’ that starts filming in early 2013. Rounding out his to-do-list is a planned third film that will complete ‘The Raid’ trilogy.
Sounds like Universal are keeping Evans happy and lining up work for him once he completes his passion project. Evans is an amazing talent and the fact that he has so many films on his schedule and a studio already acquiring properties for him is a testament to his demand after delivering ‘The Raid’.
