Heist Dream Team Assembles: Aubrey Plaza Joins Michael B. Jordan’s Thomas Crown Affair

Michael B. Jordan is quietly building a ringer of a heist movie. His take on The Thomas Crown Affair just added Aubrey Plaza, Ruth Negga, and Paapa Essiedu, and the vibe he is selling is not your grandfather's Crown.

"I didn't want a reboot. I wanted a reimagination. The first two films were about rich white guys stealing for fun. That doesn't land today. Ours is more personal. The stakes are higher. Still got the fashion, romance. Ruth Negga is the queen. We've got an incredible cast - Aubrey Plaza, Kenneth Branagh, Paapa Essiedu."

Jordan dropped the casting news on Variety's Awards Circuit podcast, and he is clearly steering this away from a copy-paste of the previous versions. He is playing Thomas Crown himself; everything else about the roles is under wraps for now. The promise: same luxe sheen and flirtatious energy, but with real stakes baked in.

Who is in and who is making it

• New additions: Aubrey Plaza, Ruth Negga, Paapa Essiedu
• Already aboard: Michael B. Jordan (as Thomas Crown), Adria Arjona, Lily Gladstone, Kenneth Branagh
• Writers: Drew Pearce and Wes Tooke, from a story by Alan Trustman
• Producers: Michael B. Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo for Outlier Society, plus Patrick McCormick and Marc Toberoff; Charles Roven has also joined as a producer
• Executive producer: Alan Trustman

What makes this interesting

Negga getting called "the queen" by Jordan is a fun tease, and the cast overall is the kind of lineup you do not assemble for an ordinary retread. Also notable: Alan Trustman, who wrote the 1968 original, came up with the story for this version and is back as an executive producer. That is a rare full-circle move and suggests they are threading the needle between honoring the concept and modernizing it.

A quick refresher on Crown

The original 1968 film starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway and set the template: a wealthy mastermind who steals big and toys with the person trying to catch him. The 1999 remake with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo leaned into the same cat-and-mouse dynamic with a museum heist, a pricey masterpiece, and a romance that gets as risky as the job. Jordan's pitch keeps the glamour and the sparks, but he is hinting at a more grounded motive than "stealing for sport."

No release date yet, but with this cast and Jordan talking about a reimagination instead of a straight redo, this just jumped several spots up the must-watch list.