Michael B. Jordan Teases His ‘Thomas Crown Affair’ ‘Reimagination’ for First Time

Michael B. Jordan is teasing one of his upcoming projects.

On the Nov. 28 episode of Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, the actor and director, 38, opened up about his upcoming remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, in which he’s set to star and direct. The heist film follows a billionaire named Thomas Crown, who commits crimes for entertainment — and who eventually finds himself entwined with an insurance investigator.

The 1968 original film starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, while its 1999 remake starred Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. It was the latter that first left a lasting impression on Jordan.

“The Brosnan version was the one I grew up watching, and I was like, ‘Oh man, this is great, I love this,’” he said on the podcast. “I was like 13, 14. Obviously, the whole love thing kind of went over my head a bit, but as far as the art, the slickness, the wish fulfillment…I didn’t go to a lot of museums growing up as a kid. But when I watched that movie, I kind of saw a side of New York that I guess I didn’t see before.”

“My mom’s an artist, so I grew up around paints and canvases and upholstery and leather dyeing…So I had a love and appreciation of an artist’s journey before I even became an artist myself.”

Jordan, who made his directorial debut in 2023 with Creed III, suggested a new imagining of The Thomas Crown Affair to Amazon MGM Studios. He shot the film in London, and it’s set to be released on March 5, 2027.

“For me, the biggest thing was I didn’t want it to be a reboot or a remake,” Jordan said. “I really want to reimagine it. So it was a reimagination of what it is…what I liked about it was it didn’t have too much baggage. It was just enough time and gap between generations.”

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But Jordan also wants the film, which will also star Ruth Negga, Aubrey Plaza, Kenneth Branagh and Lily Gladstone, to divert people’s expectations.

“The first two films were these two rich White dudes that were stealing because they were pretty much bored…this one’s a bit more personal and the stakes are a lot higher.”

Jordan also discussed his experience working with longtime collaborator Ryan Coogler on the recent horror film Sinners. Jordan has worked with the director across multiple franchises, like Creed and Black Panther, but Sinners left him “in awe.”

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“I felt like he wanted to do something for him fully, and I felt that passion, and it made me excited about it,” the actor said of the movie, which was inspired by Coogler’s relationship with his uncle James and his connection to blues music.

Jordan, who plays twin brothers in the film, says his Thomas Crown reimagining was “the second hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life outside of this performance in Sinners” — but the latter was well worth it.

 “I want everybody that took the time away from their family to come down here to make a movie with us — I want them to get all the love and the respect and the props they deserve,” he said.