DB7

Millennium thieves set for screen
15 March 2004
Working Title Films has purchased a script by David Logan called The Rip, about a jewel heist at the Millennium Dome. The film is loosely based on the attempted theft of £500 million worth of diamonds - including the Millennium Star, the world’s third largest cut diamond.

The original theft attempt was like something straight out of a Bond movie. The thieves crashed into the Dome in an earth-digger wearing gas masks and used sledgehammers and nail guns to try to steal the gems. Unfortunately for them the police had been tipped off and were lying in wait, some disguised as cleaners, and the jewels had been replaced by fakes. Six men were arrested on the spot, one while he tried to escape down the Thames in a power boat (see what we mean about Bond?), and six co-conspirators were captured later in the day.

This film has altered the story slightly and now centres on a thief hired to steal the diamonds who uses that initial theft to cover up a much bigger score. Not exactly the most original plot in the world, but perhaps it would have been too much to hope for to see the original thieves portrayed in all their bungling glory.