It made headlines all over the world when thieves made off with jewellery worth some $100 million from France’s iconic Louvre Museum last year. What made the heist comical was the farcical way the thieves walked inside the high-security museum and walked out casually. Now, the much-talked-about robbery is getting a film adaptation, news agency AFP reported on Tuesday.
Louvre heist to be turned into film
French director Romain Gavras, whose work includes the 2025 Hollywood film Sacrifice starring Anya Taylor-Joy, will direct the film, drawing inspiration from the investigative book Main basse sur le Louvre (literally A grab at the Louvre), publishers told the agency.
Film rights to the book about the October 19, 2025 heist had been sold to the production company Iconoclast while rights for a documentary series were acquired by a British producer, the Flammarion publishing house said.
The book, Main basse sur le Louvre, was written by three journalists from French dailies Le Parisien and Le Monde, and weekly glossy magazine Paris Match. It is set to hit the bookstores on Wednesday. The film rights were sold even before a single copy of the book was sold, anticipating the buzz around such a film and the sales of the book.
According to trade magazine Le Film Francais, while the film is already in development, there is no update on a title. The cast has not been announced either. The producers are expected to share updates later this year. A release date or window remains uncertain till the film goes on floors.
What was the Louvre heist
On October 19 last year, thieves used the guise of maintenance workers to infiltrate the popular museum in Paris and walked away with jewels worth over $100 million. The Louvre heist sent shockwaves around the world and sparked a security crisis at the world-famous museum, ultimately leading to the replacement of its director, Laurence des Cars. After seven months of investigation, and despite the arrests of the main suspects, the jewels have still not been found.
The authors of the book said their apparent disappearance “has become a dense mystery, a puzzle that has plunged investigators into deep confusion.” They added that the heist illustrates how “the theft of artworks has become a business like any other for many criminals”, they say. “The criminal underworld has found a new cash cow.”
