How To Rob A Bank Producer Explains How The Movie Reinvents The Heist Genre [Exclusive]

It's easy for novices to make the mistake that if you've seen one heist film, you've seen them all. As the genre junkies among us know, it takes a little more effort than most to make these sorts of movies stand out from the crowd. Steven Soderbergh found lightning in a bottle with his "Ocean's Eleven" remake in 2001, while Christopher Nolan added a mind-bending spin with "Inception" less than 10 years later. Classic cinema is rife with examples of how to craft memorable heist movies, from Michael Mann's "Thief" to Sidney Lumet's "Dog Day Afternoon" to Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing."

So when David Leitch came across writer Mark Bianculli's script for "How to Rob a Bank" and chose this as his next directorial effort after "The Fall Guy," it quickly became apparent how this could become a heist flick like nothing we've ever seen before. As the title implies, the unconventional heroes of this story are a group of social media influencers who've become viral sensations — not just for pulling off bank robberies like they were born to do it, but for creating a YouTube channel teaching others how to stick it to the man and perform heists of their own.

Not long ago, I had the chance to talk to the creative team of Leitch and "Violent Night" producer Kelly McCormick (who happens to be Leitch's longtime producing partner at 87North, as well as his wife) during the "How to Rob a Bank" press junket about what drew them to the script. According to McCormick:

"In this case, it's like, 'How do you turn a heist movie on its head — not your daddy's heist movie?' And it's the [idea of] thieves hiding in plain sight, as opposed to not wanting to be seen."

It's a staple of practically every heist story ever told, from "The Italian Job" to "Heat" and everything in between: In order to pull off the perfect caper, our protagonists must cover their tracks, don some clever disguises to maintain a low profile, and escape the scene of the crime without anyone being the wiser. It's definitely not advised for robbers to film themselves while on a job, edit and upload those tutorials to YouTube, and revel in the viral fame that comes with being the most well-known crew the internet has ever seen. It's all about avoiding detection — not seeking it out.

But "How to Rob a Bank" isn't exactly interested in the conventional approach. With Nicholas Hoult's Ryan as the ringleader, this motley group of Robin Hood-like revolutionaries have figured out how to successfully weaponize simmering anti-capitalist sentiments among a generation fed up with living under a broken system. They just happen to do so with a GoPro strapped to their masks and a knack for live-streaming their crimes to an eager audience. According to director David Leitch, this was the main appeal behind taking the screenplay by Mark Bianculli and bringing it to life:

"That's what we saw in it and that's why we really wanted to do this material. It had all of those elements where you could create something fun, but yet also with a bigger message. That was one of the things we haven't gotten to do: maybe have something that has a little bit more of a commentary. There's usually a moral tale [in heist movies], but this has a little bit of ... it's asking you big questions about where we are in the world right now."

Where studios like A24 and Blumhouse deserve credit for establishing themselves as high-minded horror destinations, 87North has cornered the market with the most exciting action films. Upon seeing David Leitch's name attached to any given film, audiences can safely expect more visceral set pieces, an emphasis on practical effects, and a certain, undefinable je ne sais quoi when it comes to mixing and matching genres. After "Atomic Blonde," "Deadpool 2," and "Bullet Train," "How to Rob a Bank" seamlessly fits into Leitch's ongoing interests.

Or, as Kelly McCormick aptly puts it in our conversation, "I believe one of David's pillars is that he always is doing a little bit something different with the genre every time out, and wants to and enjoys changing genres and the subgenres within action and really wanting to tell a lot of different tales." It's one thing to identify that branding, however, and another to actually put it into action. As she went on to explain:

"So then, how can you make that Leitchian? How can you make that atonal? And ['How to Rob a Bank'] had all the things, with regards to the drama versus the social media content and all those kinds of aspects. And then, I think the extra unique part is being able to have a bigger message, more front-and-center than what we do a lot of times out with our commercial propositions."

That "bigger message" may hit particularly hard at a time when working-class struggles remain at the forefront of the national conversation as the rich only get richer. "How to Rob a Bank" hits theaters on November 13, 2026.