Deadline is reporting that Universal Pictures has acquired the drama Breaking the Bank for Gareth Evans to direct. Evans, whose film The Raid: Redemption played well at several film festivals before getting a limited release by Sony Pictures Classics this year, has the skills and talent to pull off great shootouts and fight sequences, but can he be the mastermind behind the camera at planning a bank heist?
Breaking the Bank is a fact-based drama 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 story revolves around the life of former UFC fighter “Lightning” Lee Murray, a mixed martial artist who was the mastermind behind the largest cash heist in England’s history back in 2006. Originally, the film had been in development for director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), but with him doing Noah for Paramount with Russell Crowe as the titular Ark maker it allowed Evans to get on board.