David Leitch’s New Heist Thriller Is “Robin Hood for the Digital Age”

This year, those in attendance at CinemaCon were the first to hear new details on David Leitch‘s upcoming heist movie, How to Rob a Bank, where he took to the stage with one of the film’s many stars, Pete Davidson. While on the ground at the con, however, Collider’s Steve Weintraub got the chance to pick the Bullet Train and Fall Guy director’s brain, including his most exciting projects on the slate.

According to Leitch, How to Rob a Bank is “a little bit of a Robin Hood for the digital age,” starring Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Anna Sawai, Tati Gabrielle, Davidson, John C. Reilly, and Christian Slater. In the movie, a group of bank robbers post their heists on a YouTube channel as tutorials, taunting and misdirecting law enforcement, who are hot on their trail. “There’s law and there’s justice, and we’re examining that theme.”

You can read the full conversation below, where Leitch not only shares details on How to Rob a Bank, but gives an exciting update for Netflix’s Gears of War adaptation and talks about finally getting Jason Statham Stole My Bike off the ground, and what Statham fans can expect from the action-packed comedy.

Netflix Is “100% Behind” David Leitch’s ‘Gears of War’ Adaptation

The streaming giant officially announced plans for the video game adaptation in 2022.

COLLIDER: Let’s start with the most important question. If someone has never seen Fall Guy, should they watch the extended cut or the theatrical cut?

DAVID LEITCH: Wow. I’m one of those people who ends up really liking the theatrical cut. I think a lot of directors do the extended cut because there are a lot of gems in there, but I usually end up letting those things go, and then I enjoy the tightened version of the film. So look, if you’re a huge Fall Guy fan, watch the extended cut. The unicorn sequence alone is worth it. There are some great alts that Ryan [Gosling] and Emily [Blunt] came up with that are really fun moments. I love it, but I really am a fan of the theatrical cut, I’m not going to lie.

Is Gears of War ever going to happen?

LEITCH: Gears of War, I think, is going to happen.

Video game stuff is more popular than ever.

LEITCH: We have a great draft that’s in progress that’s in really great shape. The studio’s more determined than ever to make it. Netflix is 100% behind it. The Coalition is fired up, as well. They have their game releasing this year, as well, and so it’s all lining up that that movie will happen.

The thing with you is you’re in a very, very lucky, fortunate position where you get to keep working. With so many directors, it’s a long break. You’re about to do Jason Statham Stole My Bike, which is obviously the greatest title in cinematic history, but what is it like knowing that you can keep going?

LEITCH: I feel really fortunate to be in this position. I love directing, and I love being on set. The physical production aspect of making films is one of my favorite things. I think part of it is just coming up as a performer and then a department head, as a stunt designer. Being on set and the physical making of the movie is really where I feel so much at home. So, I’m not afraid of that work. I like doing it.

I think a lot of directors like the break, and more power to them, but I feel like if I invested in the project and I really have a vision of what I want to make, I don’t really want to wait. I would like to make it. So I feel lucky to have things lined up that I’m passionate about that are ready to go. It’s really fortunate. It’s not daunting to me. People always ask me, like, “Man, don’t you want to take a break?” And I’m like, “Not really.”

Again, you won the lottery. It’s really hard.

LEITCH: Yes, I have. I’m very fortunate to be in that position. And again, it’s champagne problems.

‘How to Rob a Bank’ Is David Leitch’s Most Punk Rock Movie Yet

“I always find a heart in my films, but this has something that’s even more relatable.”

How to Rob a Bank: What do you want to tell people about it who don’t know anything?

LEITCH: This is not your typical heist movie. This is a movie that turns that genre on its head. What’s exciting about the movie is it’s a heist movie for the social media age, and not only is it a fun, provocative punk rock film that I’m so excited about, it has something to say, and it is sort of holding up a mirror to society right now in a way that I don’t always get to do as a filmmaker, and that’s what’s really exciting to me about How to Rob a Bank.

You must have done test screenings or friends and family screenings. How was the reaction to the finished film? What did you learn from those screenings?

LEITCH: We had two incredible test screenings. I always take away bits and pieces from our test screenings, but they were overwhelmingly positive. This is a movie that is going to resonate with a lot of people in a lot of walks of life. It’s asking a lot of questions about where is our society going and what are our society’s priorities?

On the surface, it’s a little bit of a Robin Hood for the digital age, but it has even, again, more things to say than that, all wrapped up. A little thing that we like to do at 87North, and I like to do, is I still want to make it entertaining and I want to make it commercial, but at the same time, again, it’s subversive, it’s punk rock, and it has something to say.

How would you describe the camera shots you did? Did you change your style at all? Was the material aligned with your aesthetic?

LEITCH: The story revolves around a group of bank robbers who’ve created a YouTube show called How to Rob a Bank. What they’re doing is they’re posting their heists online as tutorials and teaching people how to do it and get away with it. So I really leaned into the Prosumer camera aesthetic for those videos, and those videos are not only high-action heists, they’re also sort of commentaries about the bank robbers’ worldview and what needs to be happening for change.

In a fun, subversive way, they’re entertainers, so I really leaned into part of the movie as this fun YouTube Prosumer punk rock mashup of, like, “I’m making a YouTube show.” Then the other half of this movie we shot on film, shot on 35, and it’s the grounded reality of their lives and where they are in the world and what’s driving them to take such risks and expose themselves to make change.

We’re at a crossroads in the real world in terms of the haves and have-nots. I don’t want to use the term “affordability,” but I think everyone feels that it’s getting more expensive to live. You obviously made this a while ago, but how does what’s going on in the real world and what people are really talking about in the movie, and is the timing sort of like, “Wait, what?”

LEITCH: Yeah, the timing is like, “wait, what” 1,000%. This is a tale as old as time. What happens is there’s a certain point in societies where the wealth aggregates in a certain place, and then the people have to take the power into their own hands. This is just a moral tale revolving around that, wrapped up in a really fun action movie package with an incredible cast. I mean, you have John C. Reilly playing a burned-out FBI agent five years away from retirement, you have Zoë Kravitz playing a hacker on house arrest, and they become this odd couple that has to chase these bank robbers who are highly elusive. The videos are becoming misdirection, and they’re a really smart group of people, but even those people are realizing that the system isn’t even working for them.

He’s an FBI agent. There’s law, and there’s justice, and we’re examining that theme. Again, it’s kind of wild how much of a mirror this holds up to society. I think that’s why it’s so entertaining to the audience. Whatever you feel about the world today, you’re going to find someone you can relate to, a character in this movie. A lot of my films have a heart. I think Fall Guy had a romantic heart, and in Deadpool, Julian [Dennison]’s character, Firefist, had a huge heart. I always find a heart in my films, but this has something that’s even more relatable dramatically that I’m really excited as a filmmaker to have been able to do. You’re going to go on the ride with these guys, and then you’re going to, hopefully, relate.

David Leitch Talks Next Movie: ‘Jason Statham Stole My Bike’

“Mayhem ensues.”

Ian West/PA Images/INSTARimages

I definitely have to ask you about the greatest title in cinema history. Jason Statham Stole My Bike. What the hell is this movie about, besides Jason having his bike stolen? If that’s even what the movie’s about.

LEITCH: Well, it’s not. I don’t want to get into many of the details because it is the greatest film title of all time, as you said.

It really is.

LEITCH: It’s really fun.

It’s an amazing title, and I’m not being facetious.

LEITCH: Yeah, it’s an amazing title. It forces you to ask a lot of questions, and I think that’s the biggest thing. So I don’t want to give you too much because I want people to still live with the mystery of it all. But look, it’s Jason playing Jason in a movie that he’s going to have to… What’s the best way to describe it? I don’t want to give too much.

I don’t want you to get in trouble.

LEITCH: I wouldn’t even get in trouble. It’s Jason playing Jason and…

Let me just say this: I love Jason Statham, and I love his movies, but I’ll be honest and say he’s playing the same person in every film. Is he playing the same person in this, or is there a different Jason Statham?

LEITCH: No, he’s playing Jason Statham. He’s playing himself. I think that that’s what’s really interesting about it to me. I think it’s different than some of these other meta movies. We’re just really trying to capture something comedic and fun. Obviously, there is some self-righteousness going on. There is a four-quadrant element to it. It’s fun, and it’s family, and it’s a chance for Jason and I to do something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time together, and that’s, really, get together and make a story with a heart.

Is it PG-13 or R?

LEITCH: It’s PG-13.

And who’s making it? I actually don’t know.

LEITCH: Black Bear. Amazon International and Black Bear.

Where are you filming?

LEITCH: London and Malta.

I love Malta.

LEITCH: We’re playing Malta for Malta.

I was going to ask you because there’s a great tax break there, but it’s also beautiful, and no one films Malta for Malta, or not many do that. So is a huge part of the story Malta?

LEITCH: Yeah.

Now there’s a little bit more meat on the bones in terms of what this movie is about. When are you going to announce any of the cast, or can you tell me anything right now?

LEITCH: This thing is one of those beautiful moments where you say, “I’m lucky and I get to work a lot.” Jason and I had a window of time. We both had a window, and we had had this script presented to us a while back, probably two years ago now, and Jason and I talked about it, and we thought it’d be really fun to do. It was a really fun concept, and we were just trying to find windows that lined up. He called me in January, and I was posting How to Rob a Bank, and he’s like, “I got a window. My other movie fell through. I have a window in summer. Could you make it work?” And I’m like, “Let me think.” I’m like, man, I’m just finishing post, and I have something potentially in late fall. Can I squeeze that in? I thought about it for like five minutes, and I’m like, “You know what? Screw it. Yes! We’ll figure it out. Let’s go.”

It’s a small movie and it’s really a sweet, funny action. There’ll be a lot of action, but you’re going to see Jason be fun. I think that’s what’s really exciting. Jason has such great comedic instincts and he gets to do it a lot. He did it in Spy, but he doesn’t get to do it a lot is what I should say, and I think people want to see him in those roles. We have a real opportunity here to give people something fun and interesting and escapist, and again, with a heart.

How long is the shoot?

LEITCH: It’s a short shoot. Again, it’s not far off from How to Rob a Bank. It’s a 45-day shoot.

How to Rob a Bank opens in theaters on September 4. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Release Date

September 3, 2026

Writers

Mark Bianculli