Michael B. Jordan to Direct and Star in ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’

(Left) Michael B. Jordan as John Kelly in Prime Video’s ‘Without Remorse.’ (Right) Steve McQueen in 1969’s ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’. Photo: United Artists.

Preview:

Michael B. Jordan is directing and starring in ‘The Thomas Crown Affair.’
It’ll mark his second time directing following ‘Creed III.’
Amazon MGM Studios will release the movie worldwide.

Cast your mind back to 2016, and word arrived that Michael B. Jordan was looking to take the lead in a third interpretation of the heist caper movie ‘The Thomas Crown Affair.’

It appears he’s clearly happy with the script, which originated with Wes Tooke and has since been re-written by ‘The Fall Guy’s Drew Pearce, as Jordan is now stepping up to also direct the movie, as he did with ‘Creed III’ in 2023.

Amazon MGM Studios has the rights to this one and plans to release it worldwide.

While the storyline for the new film is being kept under wraps, we have to figure it’ll follow roughly the same plot as the previous entries. Talking of…

What’s the history of ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’?

(L to R) Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway in 1969’s ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’. Photo: United Artists.

The 1968 original, directed by Norman Jewison, saw Steve McQueen as the titular bored millionaire, who concocts and executes a brilliant scheme to rob a bank without having to do any of the work himself.

When Vicki Anderson (Faye Dunaway), an investigator for the bank’s insurance company, takes an interest in Crown, the two begin a complicated cat-and-mouse game with a romantic undertone.

In an attempt to decipher Anderson’s agenda, Crown devises another robbery like his first, wondering if he can get away with the same crime twice.

The film saw a remake in 1999 with John McTiernan in the director’s chair, Pierce Brosnan as Crown and Rene Russo as Catherine Banning, the woman on his trail.

What else is Michael B. Jordan working on?

(L to R) Director Michael B. Jordan and cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau on the set of their film ‘Creed III,’ A Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film. Photo credit: Eli Ade. © 2023 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved

In addition to this new directorial job, Jordan has been keeping himself typically busy.

He has several projects in development, including a ‘Rainbow Six’ film that will see him return as special forces operative John Clark. He’s also working up a fourth ‘Creed’ movie, which he’s expressed a desire to direct following his success with the third (which made $276 million at the global box office).

And he’s also attached to star with Will Smith in the long-developing follow-up to ‘I Am Legend,’ which has Francis Lawrence aboard to direct.

Before any of that even sees a camera let alone the screen, however, there is Jordan’s reunion with longtime collaborator, filmmaker Ryan Coogler, with the pair shooting an untitled genre film in Louisiana earlier this year that has a March 7th, 2025, release date already set (so we should be seeing a teaser or trailer for that before too long.)

Jordan told Variety last year that he felt like he had plenty of work still to do:

“I still feel like an underdog. I feel like I just got here, like I’ve just arrived, and I have the tools and the things around me to really be on the offensive a little bit.”