Yahoo Lifestyle Janelle Monáe to Play Tanya Smith, Con Artist Behind $40 Million Heist, in ‘Never Saw Me Coming’ Movie Adaptation
Universal Pictures has landed the rights to Tanya Smith’s memoir “Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System — and Pocketed $40 Million.” Janelle Monáe is attached to star in the film adaptation, which she’ll also produce through her company Wondaland Pictures.
Smith, who will be involved in the movie as an executive producer, is the perpetually underestimated con-artist behind what’s been called “one of the single biggest threats to the entire United States banking system.”
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Described as a heist thriller that becomes “a powerful examination of systemic prejudice and economic inequality,” the stranger-than-fiction story follows Smith’s journey from teenage hacker to financial system mastermind. By 18, she had already orchestrated a litany of heists, amassing millions of dollars while evading law enforcement in the process.
She was finally cornered by the FBI, though they allegedly “refused to believe a Black woman could be the architect of such sophisticated crimes,” according to the project’s official press release. She responded by orchestrating an even more audacious scheme — systematically outsmarting federal agents while building a $40 million empire of cash, diamonds and gold bars. But, as the release continues, “her success attracted deadly, and soon Smith found herself dodging both bullets and badges.” Smith faced one of the longest white-collar sentences in history before mounting her own defense and winning her freedom.
Universal’s acquisition of “Never Saw Me Coming” continues the trend of the studio’s book rights acquisitions, including the Britney Spears memoir “The Woman in Me,” Colleen Hoover’s “Reminders of Him,” Percival Everett’s “James” and Stacey Abrams’ “Rules of Engagement.”
Ryan Jones, senior VP of production development and Tony Ducret, director of development, will oversee the project for the studio.
Monáe, though best known as a music artist, has balanced her singing career with such films as “Moonlight,” “Hidden Figures,” “Harriet” and “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” In 2018, Monáe’s company Wondaland Pictures signed a first-look deal with Universal. She is repped by represented by Wondaland Management, WME, ID PR, Ben Rubenfield at Ziffren, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Smith is represented by attorney Mitchell Ostrove at Yorn Levine.
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