William Monahan, Oscar-winning writer of The Departed is set to turn director and has taken on the rights for film based on the rather modestly titled memoir The Art of the Heist: Confessions of a Master Thief, Rock-and-Roller and Prodigal Son.
The book, which hasn't even hit shops yet, promises a no-holds- barred look at the life of career criminal Myles Connor. With a little help from be-quiffed Roy Orbison, Connor started out as a musician in the band Myles and The Wild Ones, but quickly developed an expensive taste for the finer things in life. Supplementing his lifestyle with a little light-fingery of priceless art and antiques, he became involved in a number of high profile Boston museum raids in the '70s and '80s.
Screenwriter Monahan was also responsible for Ridley Scott's latest Body of Lies, as well as the upcoming Mel Gibson film Edge of Darkness, but has so far stayed away from the camera. However, he will cut his directorial teeth before taking on The Art of the Heist, as his adaptation of Ken Bruen's London Boulevard, begins shooting in London this June.