David Twohy was building himself quite a nice career going from writing the likes of The Fugitive to directing Pitch Black. However when The Chronicles Of Riddick flopped spectacularly, it rather sent things awry, and while he’s busy putting together another Riddick movie (this one a little smaller), we haven’t heard much else from him in the last few years.
However now Variety reports that he’s planning to write and direct The Leonardo Job, with Alcon Entertainment in negotiations to come onboard and finance the movie. The film is action thriller about the heist of the ‘lost’ Leonardo da Vinci painting called ‘The Battle of Anghiari’. The story involves two rival master thieves hired to go to Florence to track down the painting. These experts use high tech and old tricks to prove the painting exists and pinpoint its location – hidden behind another masterpiece. They are forced to combine skills when their schemes to steal the painting get more complicated and dangerous after they discover they are not the only ones pursuing the hidden treasure.
The Battle of Anghiari was a work Da Vinci started but never completed, however as it was a fresco, it’s unlikely you could set up a heist to steal it if it did still exist. In an incredible conjuction of legendary renaissance figures, Leondardo was commissioned to paint one wall of the Hall of Five Hundred in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence (in a contract signed by none other than Niccolo Machiavelli), while Michaelangelo painted the other wall. However in later alterations both painting were destroyed, although some think they may still be hidden under later frescoes. While some details will have to change, it could make the basis for an interesting flick.