NBC is working on a TV version of iconic heist caper movie The Italian Job. That’s per Deadline, which says that the network has given a script commitment to a new crime drama based on the 1969 Michael Caine classic. The show is being written and produced by Ballers’ Rob Weiss, whose old Entourage co-producer Mark Wahlberg starred in the original’s 2003 remake.
NBC is promising a “noisy, sexy, thrill-ride” with its new show, along with—presumably—a whole host of product placement for BMW’s Mini Cooper. Coopers—originally produced by the British Motor Corporation—were a key component of the climax of both films, with the Quincy Jones-scored Cooper chase from the original a regular entry in lists of the best cinematic car chases of all time.
A sequel to the 2003 film, tentatively titled The Brazilian Job, has been in the works for years, but has yet to see the light of day. Meanwhile, The Italian Job is just another in the long list of film-to-TV remakes that have dotted the airwaves in recent years, including NBC’s own Parenthood and Fox’s current Lethal Weapon show.