If you’re in the Marylebone part of London early next year and see The World’s Fastest Indian director Roger Donaldson trying to rob a bank, don’t panic – he’s just cranking the cameras on long-gestating thriller Baker Street.
In the works since at least 2003, the film which has a script by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, will see Jason Statham starring in the true story of the now legendary 1971 heist. Legendary, because all the details of the crime were locked down under an Official Secrets Act “D” notice, which meant that nothing could be written about it for 30 years.
The classified shroud was pulled because MI5 were involved (they’d set up the bank robbers and were hoping to send them all to the slammer) and because nothing went exactly to plan. The thieves got away with not only the sort of money that would make the Oceans gang smile, but also nabbed a load of incriminating evidence about royal and political shenanigans that were stored in the vault. None of the money was ever recovered and the crooks stayed free after threatening to release the information to the press.