Myles in the NEWS
Jack Nicholson to play Myles in BioPic?
From
Filmforce News
 April 07, 2003 -
The Boston Herald spoke with Mandalay Pictures honcho Peter Guber
and ex-con Myles Connor about the
recently announced biopic of the latter. Connor is the purported mastermind
of
the historic art heist at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on March
18, 1990. The robbery netted 13 pieces of art that ranged in value between
300-500 million dollars. No one has been prosecuted in the baffling case and
the stolen art works, including Rembrandt's only seascape, "Storm on the Sea
of Galilee," have never been recovered. (Court
TV profiles Connor and has an account of the Gardner heist.)
"It's not often that you have the opportunity to do a true story where
the principal characters are more compelling than anything you can write in
fiction," Guber advised the Herald. "With Myles we have a very interesting
and smart fellow with a lot of potential. The question is not just `How did
he do it?' but `Why did he do it?'"
Boston-born Guber and the film's other producers, Beantown-based Difi
Films, were reportedly inspired to pursue Connor's life story after witnessing
the success of another
true crime pic, Catch Me If You Can. The Connor film is "an interesting
look at the life of a villain," Guber said, "the kind of character the movies
have been successfully exploiting and portraying for years. I see this as
a thriller and
heist picture at the same time as a character study. And of course it's
all true."
"It's exciting – I hope I'm portrayed accurately," Connor told the paper,
adding that his personal choice to portray him is none other than Oscar-winner
Jack Nicholson. (The casting of Nicholson wouldn't be out of the realm
of possibility, mind you; Guber has produced two films with Jack,
Batman
and The Witches of Eastwick.)
The 60-year-old Connor, mind you, is the son of a cop and the brother of
a priest. He was also once a rock n' roller who had his own band called Myles
and the Wild Ones that opened for Sha Na Na and sometimes played with Roy
Orbison. Connor reportedly has an IQ above 160 and is a member of Mensa. Unsurprisingly,
he's also an avid art collector.
The Boston Herald says Guber sees the Connor biopic as "a big-budget
feature with an Oscar-caliber director." In addition to acquiring the life
rights of Myles Connor, Mandalay also purchased those of Connor's girlfriend
Suzanne King and his attorney Martin K. Leppo.
The paper adds that Guber and Difi Films "are working on several other
projects with a (Boston) angle" in addition to the Connor flick. "I'm looking
forward to working with more people who won't laugh at my Boston accent,"
joked Guber.
-- Stax
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