Exclusive: Jenna Ortega Starring And Producing True Story Heist Series For Netflix
Jenna Ortega is teaming up with Netflix for a limited series about a group of female bank thieves.
Actress Jenna Ortega will star in an upcoming Netflix limited series titled The Perfect Heist, inspired by a group of women who successfully robbed a high-tech bank in the 1980s. According to our trusted and proven sources, the Wednesday star will also produce the series, which is said to be based on a true story. Jenna Ortega is making an interesting move with The Perfect Heist, but that perhaps indicates a desire not to get typecast into a specific genre.
Given that she will also be producing it and is having a tremendous breakout couple of years, it can be assumed that Jenna Ortega will be the lead of The Perfect Heist, but given that it is supposed to be a team heist, we can expect other female stars to be attached soon. It is unclear exactly what true bank robbery the limited series will be based on; there are relatively few famous all-female heists, which once inspired a poorly-aging John Mulaney standup bit.
One likely possibility for Jenna Ortega’s The Perfect Heist is the Loughton incinerator thefts, which took place in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. Over the course of four years, a number of employees of the Bank of England stole pound notes that were taken out of circulation and slated for destruction (hence “incinerator”) before eventually being caught. While the group was not entirely made up of women, there is always artistic liberty to mix things up a bit.
The Loughton incinerator thefts have already been portrayed in film twice before, with the first being a British television film titled Hot Money in 2001 and a Diane Keaton vehicle titled Mad Money in 2008. However, there is no reason why Jenna Ortega and The Perfect Heist cannot find ways to retell a little-known story, particularly at Netflix-level budgets.
Of course, Jenna Ortega’s The Perfect Heist might be based on an entirely different story, so we shall just have to wait and see. The last major female-led heist movie was 2018’s Ocean’s 8, which was spun off from the main Ocean’s series starring franchise. The movie had an impressive cast featuring Sandra Bullock, Anne Hathaway, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, and Rihanna and grossed nearly $300 million at the box office, which seems like more than enough to potentially kickstart the sub-genre.
It certainly seems like Jenna Ortega is striking while the iron is hot with The Perfect Heist. While the star has been acting since childhood and has already appeared in multiple Disney Channel shows and the stalker thriller You, she broke through to audiences in a big way with both the 2022 Scream reboot and the Netflix Wednesday series. However, she does seem to be increasingly fixed in the public eye to the horror genre (appearing in both the Ti West slasher film X and the recent Scream 6 probably helped that), so jumping over to the bank heist genre might be a wise move.
