The Thomas Crown Affair is getting another remake from director Michael B. Jordan. The original movie, which starred Steve McQueen as a bored millionaire who orchestrates a heist and kicks off a romantic cat-and-mouse game with insurance investigator Catherine Banning, was helmed by three-time Oscar nominee Norman Jewison and premiered in 1968. The Steve McQueen movie was later remade in 1999 with Die Hard director John McTiernan at the helm and James Bond star Pierce Brosnan in the title role.
Per Deadline, Michael B. Jordan is now attached to direct the new remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, in which he is also set to star. The project is being developed with Amazon MGM Studios and has a script penned by Drew Pearce, who took over after a prior draft by Wes Tooke and Justin Britt-Gibson. Jordan is also producing with Elizabeth Raposo for Outlier Society. Other producers on the movie, which is set to be a worldwide theatrical release, include Patrick McCormick and Marc Toberoff as well as original 1968 screenwriter Alan Trustman as executive producer.
What Michael B. Jordan Directing The Thomas Crown Affair Means
The Creed III Director Is Exploring New Genres
Michael B. Jordan signing on to helm The Thomas Crown Affair shows that the actor is committed to exploring his career as a director outside of the Rocky franchise after scoring a major hit in 2023 with Creed III, for which he was also both the director and star. While Creed IV is in active development with Jordan as director, taking on this new interpretation of the classic heist property more than two and a half decades after the John McTiernan movie shows that Jordan is not content to rest on his laurels with the hit sports drama franchise.
Creed III grossed $276.1 million against a $75 million budget, becoming the highest-grossing Creed movie.
This would seem to indicate that his directorial career is more than just a passing phase. By pushing the envelope and exploring new genres, Jordan is spreading his wings as an artist and staking his claim as a filmmaker. However, the fact that he has so far starred in every movie he has been set to direct would seem to indicate that he is not yet intending to fully split his time between acting and directing like other stars such as George Clooney, who has helmed several movies in which he does not appear, including the recent The Boys in the Boat.
Our Take On Michael B. Jordan’s Thomas Crown Affair
Michael B. Jordan May Have His Next Hit On His Hands
Both previous versions of The Thomas Crown Affair were financially successful, so it seems possible that the upcoming Michael B. Jordan movie could become a box office hit as well. This shows that Jordan is not only attempting to expand his directorial career but doing so in a savvy way, finding the right projects to propel him forward and ensure that he will be well-positioned to find the next project afterward. Especially if he makes the heist movie before Creed IV, he will be buffered from any potential risks by a project that is even more of a safe bet.
Source: Deadline
