- Crime 101 writer-director Bart Layton has revealed the biggest challenge he faced on his new film
- The Chris Hemsworth-led movie is based on a short story of the same name
- It’s the first non-true crime project that Layton has worked on
Crime 101‘s writer-director has opened up about the biggest creative challenge he faced with approaching his new movie.
Speaking exclusively to TechRadar, Bart Layton said turning Don Winslow’s short story of the same name into a two-hour feature film was daunting in and of itself. However, he also admitted that, compared to previous movies he’s worked on, having the creative freedom to take Crime 101‘s film adaptation in a different direction to its source material was just as intimidating.
Until now, Layton’s body of work had consisted of crime genre fare – that being, big- and small-screen offerings centered on stories involving criminal activity. However, from the British filmmaker’s 2012 BAFTA award-winning The Imposter to 2018’s under-appreciated American Animals, such productions were all based on real-life crimes, such as the latter’s take on the 2004 Transylvania University book heist.
With one of 2026’s most anticipated new movies being based on a work of fiction rather than fact, Layton had to get to grips with not only embellishing upon Winslow’s novella, but also doing right by a tale that’s highly regarded among fans of the beloved US author. On top of all of that, the Amazon and Sony flick needed to deliver in the character arc stakes as well as being visually and narratively compelling. No pressure, then, Mister Barton!
“The short story was a really great foundation to expand from,” Layton told me. “Having never worked on fiction, what was most challenging to me is that I could do anything [I wanted]. Like, you can kill a character off or have them survive at the end.
“You don’t have the parameters of a true crime story, which is very helpful. There’s a limit to where those tales can go but, for something like this, you have to learn to let your imagination run wild.
“You’ve got to take this short story and turn it into a movie with three big characters,” Layton continued. “They’re all on a collision course, but you’ve got to give them all a really meaningful, satisfying arc, and you want to care about them deeply [as a viewer]. You can have all of the action in the world, but if you’re not invested in the characters, you’re kind of like ‘okay, cool, that was fun, I guess’.
“With this, I think it’s a more of an emotional roller coaster [than what I’ve done before], so I think I just kept an eye on that and constantly reminded myself that’s really important that this is a character-driven story rather than just a plot-driven one.
“And Don was incredibly generous,” he added. “He allowed me to do whatever I wanted and it was a relief that he loved the film as much as he did.”
Crime 101 will launch in theaters worldwide on Friday, February 13, with a Prime Video release expected to be announced later this year.
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