Headlines delivered stunning news on Oct. 19: Four thieves disguised in construction clothes entered the second story of the Louvre with a vehicle-mounted ladder, used power tools to smash display cases and escaped within 8 minutes on scooters. They carried away crown jewels worth $102 million, dropping and damaging one.
While several of the alleged culprits were later caught, in many ways, the robbery rivals those depicted in the popular 2001 “Ocean’s Eleven” heist movie, in which a group of Danny Ocean’s 11 hand-picked men set out on a grand Las Vegas casino heist for the millions, in cash, hidden in a locked-down hotel safe. The Louvre heist contains all of the main plot points that can make it the next great blockbuster hit. Here is a list for Hollywood writers to consider.
1. The “eye-catching” setting
Classic heist movies feed off of the impossibility of the mission. Usually set in highly secure locations such as casinos or art museums, the Louvre easily meets this requirement. With around 1,300 security guards on average securing the Louvre, the robbery seemed like an impossible feat. Of course, what makes it exciting is achieving the impossible.
2. On the clock
To steal anything, especially highly guarded jewelry, the race against the clock is jarring. In “Ocean’s Eleven,” the heist spanned across a single night, but granted, a casino heist takes much more time than an in-and-out museum heist which requires speed for success. The Louvre robbery took, from their arrival time at 9:30 a.m. to their grand exit at 9:38 a.m, a total of eight minutes.
3. Hiding in plain sight
Although these museum robbers didn’t have the grand level of wardrobe disguises as the cast in “Ocean’s Eleven,” their construction disguise did allow them to get away with climbing up a ladder to enter the Louvre. Using an angle grinder, they cut through the window of the Apollo Gallery. The angle grinder also happened to be the perfect tool to smash through the display cases, but it quickly set off the security alarms due to the broken glass.
4. The getaway plan
Not all heist movies have as detailed a getaway plan as the SWAT team disguise and bags of flyers from “Ocean’s Eleven.” The movie’s escape plan was executed by hacking into the camera systems and creating fake images of the stolen money.
With all the chaos of the fake escape, the team was able disguise themselves as SWAT to take out the money with no interruptions. Riding off on two high-powered scooters, as the Louvre robbers did, certainly doesn’t scream “I’m an experienced thief,” but it did prove to be successful in the short term.
The Louvre robbery may not have been as flashy as schemes in action movies, but there’s no doubt that this will be a heist for the history books. One thing heist movies usually do not replicate, however, is that thieves get caught. There’s no grand escape and no fading into the background as done in the movies. Stealing from such a highly prestigious museum placed all the detectives and police on their back.
Staying hidden from such a force is a near-impossible feat. As of Dec. 2, the police have arrested seven suspects, three of whom have been charged so far. It is not clear if the hunt is over, but regardless, prime suspects have been caught. Writers might have to tinker with the ending, but the first three quarters of the movie offers a built-in plot line worth replicating.
