Dartford’s Brian Reader is one of seven men convicted of the £14m Hatton Garden jewellery heist – which is now set to be transformed into a Hollywood blockbuster.
At 76 years old Reader is the eldest of group’s four ringleaders – dubbed Bad Dad’s Army – but their combined age of 278 didn’t stop them almost pulling off the biggest burglary in UK history.
News Shopper has put together a line-up of suspects likely to play notorious Kent gangster Kenneth Noye’s right-hand man in the film.
Read more about the Hatton Garden Heist:
- Hatton Garden ringleaders including Dartford's Brian Reader 'thrived on crime, greed and taking other people's money'
- Brian Reader boasted about Hatton Garden heist in Crayford pub before arrest, as three are convicted
- Hatton Garden 'master' used borrowed bus pass to travel into London for England's biggest burglary
- Victim tells how he suffered 'six-figure dent to his pension fund' in Hatton Garden heist
Michael Caine
Double Oscar winner Caine would surely be near the top of a casting director’s dream list: he’s about the right age (82 to reader’s 76), he’s from roughly the right part of the country and he’s got the authority necessary to play a man dubbed ‘The Master’. Caine may be heading into old age but at recent movie Youth proved, he’s still a formidable actor. Plus, the star is clearly at home in a heist movie. This movie would be the kind of quasi-sequel Italian Job fans have been crying out for…
Phil Davis
BAFTA nominated for Vera Drake, Phil Davis can nail the working-class guvnor character and he’s at home playing a villain, as we saw when he portrayed a murderous cab driver in the first episode of Sherlock. At 63, Davis is more than a decade younger than Reader but we think he could pull it off, and Reader’s mug shot bears a decent resemblance.
Michael Gambon
National treasure Michael Gambon grew up in Crayford, just a few miles from where Reader lived, and is believed to reside down the road still in Meopham. At 75, Gambon is basically the right age. Having played Dumbledore, Paddington’s Uncle Pastuzo and Winston Churchill in recent years, so he’s nothing if not versatile. And as Layer Cake’s Eddie Temple, he proved he can do the hard-man crime boss impressively.
Alan Ford
“Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible c****... me.” Alan Ford, who played the terrifying gangster Brick Top in Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, would make a fine addition to the calculated cockney cast of elderly bank robbers.
Sir Patrick Stewart
He’s roughly the right age, has the star power and – as a well-reviewed, menacing turn as a Neo-Nazi leader in Green Room – he proved he’s more than capable of being a double-‘ard b*****d.
Albert Finney
Last seen playing the gamekeeper of the old Bond family estate in Skyfall, 79-year-old Finney’s been delivering the goods for years but latterly in supporting roles – is it time for him to take the lead once again?
More movie news, reviews and interviews:
Jason Statham
Yeah, he’s too young and a terrible fit to play Reader, but would it be a British caper movie with Statham?
Sir Ben Kingsley
Looks nothing like Reader but have you seen Sexy Beast?! The Hatton Garden heist is basically that flipping film, except they met in a pub, not a Spanish villa, and there’s less water. And Kingsley nailed it as the big bossman in Jonathan Glazer’s film, scoring an Oscar nomination along the way. The 72-year-old has been prolific in recent years with four films already due for release this year, so perhaps he’d be up for this too if he can fit it into his schedule?
Ian McShane
Another Sexy Beast actor, 73-year-old McShane has played plenty of scary villains in the past – from Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean to a multi-award winning stint on Deadwood. He could definitely convince as The Master.
Tom Hardy
Yep, he’s too young too but Hardy will go whole-heartedly at any role and loves a hard-man wrong ‘un. He’s been Bronson, both Kray twins, a cage fighter, Bane and is currently a right git and Oscar-nominated The Revenant. If this movie has a younger Reader, he would rock it.
Justin Bieber
Or, for a genre-twisting comedy musical version of the tale, get a talented troupe of children in grey wigs and taches playing the parts just like Bugsy Malone. Leave it……!
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