Romain Gavras to direct Louvre heist film

Romain Gavras is developing a feature film based on the 2025 Louvre jewel heist, according to French film and culture reports published from May 15 to May 19. The project centers on the daytime theft of French crown jewels from the Galerie d’Apollon at the Louvre on October 19, 2025, a robbery widely described in French coverage as the “heist of the century.” French outlets said the film will be a loose adaptation of an investigative book, not a straight reconstruction of the case. No cast, title or release date has been announced. ### Which reports first tied Gavras to the project? Le Film Français first reported the project on May 15, according to follow-up reports in Premiere, Le Figaro and Les Inrockuptibles. Those reports said Gavras had started writing the screenplay and would direct the film. Social posts on May 19 amplified the news, but the reporting trail in French media began several days earlier. (lefigaro.fr) Le Figaro reported on May 18 that Gavras was writing the script with Simon Jacquet and Mourad Winter. The same report said Iconoclast, the production company behind earlier Gavras projects including “Le Monde est à toi” and “Athena,” was attached to produce. ### What exactly is the film being adapted from? Flammarion is publishing the source book, “Main basse sur le Louvre,” on May 27. (premiere.fr) The book is by Jean-Michel Décugis, Jérémie Pham-Lê and Nicolas-Charles Torrent, and multiple reports said Gavras’ film is a free adaptation of that investigation. The Playlist, citing French reporting, said the film would draw on the book’s reporting on the theft and subsequent police investigation. (lefigaro.fr) Le Figaro described the book as an investigative account built on secret documents and internal reports. ### What happened in the Louvre heist itself? Investigators said thieves stole jewels valued at more than €88 million from the Louvre on October 19, 2025. (editions.flammarion.com) French and international reports said the target was the Galerie d’Apollon, where pieces of the French crown jewels were displayed. The heist was carried out in daylight and unfolded in only a few minutes, according to accounts summarized by The Playlist and other reports. (theplaylist.net) Those reports said the robbers used disguises linked to construction work and escaped after smashing display cases and taking eight pieces. ### How much of the film is expected to be factual? Premiere said the project was a “librement adapté” version of the book, indicating a loose adaptation rather than a documentary-style retelling. (lefigaro.fr) That framing has been repeated across later coverage, including Time Out and Yahoo’s French site. French coverage has not set out a detailed plot synopsis for the film itself. (theplaylist.net) What has been reported is narrower: the screenplay is in development, it is rooted in the upcoming book, and it will combine the known facts of the robbery with dramatized elements drawn from the investigation and the media frenzy around the case. That last point is an inference from the “free adaptation” framing and the book-based setup, not a published plot description. (premiere.fr) ### What has not been announced yet? No distributor, cast list or release date has been announced for the film. Le Figaro said only that rumors in French media pointed to a possible 2028 theatrical window, but that timing has not been confirmed by Gavras or the producers. May 27 is the next concrete date in the project timeline, when Flammarion is scheduled to release “Main basse sur le Louvre.” French outlets have identified Gavras, Jacquet, Winter and Iconoclast as the named participants attached so far. (premiere.fr) (editions.flammarion.com) (lefigaro.fr)