Tessa Thompson is set to star in and produce a new heist movie.

Tessa Thompson

Tessa Thompson

The 'Thor: Ragnarok' actress will take on the role of real-life jewel thief Doris Payne, now 87, whose criminal record goes back to the 1950s, Variety reports.

Tessa will produce the movie with Codeblack Films, which has obtained the rights to Payne's life story.

She was previously the subject of a 2013 documentary, 'The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne,' where she chronicled many of her crimes in detail.

Her most high-profile heist was in the 1970s, when she stole a diamond ring valued at $500,000 in Monte Carlo.

The movie has been described as a "high-concept action-drama", similar to 'Catch Me If You Can'.

Meanwhile, Tessa, 34, recently said she is excited to see the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The actress starred as Valkyrie in 'Thor: Ragnarok' and is set to reprise her role in the upcoming 'Avengers: Infinity War' movie, but she admitted she cannot wait to see what happens with the strong women in the MCU.

Speaking at the world premiere of 'Black Panther', Thompson said: "In this film, there are all these incredible women in the form of Angela Bassett and Lupita [Nyong'o] and Danai [Gurira]. We're going to see Brie Larson and her standalone with Dewanda Wise, doing 'Captain Marvel'. We'll see what happens with Valkyrie next, but yeah, the women rule supreme; they always have. But I think we'll see in the next phase [of Marvel films] that really translate on screen in a real way."

Thompson also insists it is "culturally important" to represent people of colour in the MCU.

She said: "It's important for the culture. It's important to me. It's important culturally that we get to see representation [for people of colour], that we get to see ourselves reflected on screen in this way, but also it's just primed to be a fantastic movie.

"It's good for all of us and I think the fact it's been the most pre-sold movie in Marvel history speaks to the fact that it's not just for us, it's for everybody."


Tagged in