A Movie About The Real Mona Lisa Heist Is In The Works

In 2018, Beyoncé and Jay-Z borrowed the "Mona Lisa" for their artsy, Louvre-set music video for “APESHIT,” putting three icons in one place. How and why the "Mona Lisa" became such a recognisable painting out of the thousands of pieces of art in the Louvre, though, is quite the intriguing story, one that will be told in an upcoming movie all about how the "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the museum over 100 years ago. 

Actor and director Jodie Foster is set to helm the upcoming film, which is slated to be produced by the Los Angeles Media Fund, according to Deadline. 

“This is in the mould of The Thomas Crown Affair, with The Sting also a plot device comp,” producer Jeffrey Soros told Deadline of the film. “It is a fun story, and the crime itself is not sophisticated. Our story mixes truth and fiction, and the focus is on the characters behind orchestrating the theft.”

The "Mona Lisa" was plucked from the walls of the Louvre in 1911 by handyman Vincenzo Peruggia. It wasn’t a complex crime: Essentially, Peruggia wore the same smock that workers at the Louvre did to conceal his identity, then took the painting off the wall when the room emptied of guests. He removed his smock, wrapped the painting in it, and walked out of the museum. The "Mona Lisa" was missing for two years, and the news surrounding its disappearance is what led the portrait to become one of the most recognisable pieces of artwork in the world.

This isn’t the first film about a museum heist to be made in recent years. Ocean’s 8 tells the story of a group of con artists who use the annual Met Gala as a way to rob the museum of precious jewels. The Goldfinch, based on the novel by Donna Tartt, is about a young man (Ansel Elgort) who conceals the fact that he took a precious painting from a museum after a terrorist attack. 

Foster may be making a movie all about the "Mona Lisa," but it’s worth wondering what would have happened if Peruggia stole another painting. Would that piece of art have made it into the Carters' music video instead?