Redford snatches 'Napoleon'
Thesp to star as master thief Adam Worth
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Wildwood, which optioned the book out of its own pockets, will develop the tome independently as a starring vehicle for Redford, who would portray Worth, a Victorian-era gentleman thief who rose from obscurity as a pickpocket to run his own international organization of master thieves.
Redford, however, will not direct the pic.
DreamWorks originally optioned MacIntyre's nonfiction tome in late 1996, a year before it was published in the U.S. by Farrar, Straus & Giroux (Daily Variety, September 18, 1996). Douglas Wright ("Quills") penned an earlier adaptation, but it's understood that Wildwood has now made the project an open writing assignment and will begin from scratch.
Thief is prolific
"Napoleon" chronicles the saga of the American-born Worth, who fled to Britain where he reinvented himself as a British aristocrat and traveled in the most rarefied circles of Victorian society -- all while building a reputation as one of the era's most prolific thieves.
And like every master criminal (he was, after all, the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character Professor Moriarty), Worth had his dogged pursuer -- in his case, Allan Pinkerton, founder of the famous detective agency bearing his name.
Wildwood president Michael Nozik is overseeing the project, which was brought into the company by Wendy Taeuber, exec VP of development.
CAA, which reps Wildwood and Redford, brokered the deal on behalf of MacIntyre's London-based agent, Ed Victor.
