Harsh Vardhan
The filming of the heist film ‘Dutch & Razzlekhan’ is set to commence in New Jersey in January 2025. Chloë Grace Moretz will star in the film, along with Gabriel LaBelle and Isabela Merced, replacing the originally announced stars, Lewis Pullman and Ariana DeBose. Jon S. Baird is directing the movie, based on a true story, with a screenplay written by Logan and Noah Miller.
Adapted from the Business Insider article “The $4.5 Billion Question” by Rob Price and Becky Peterson, published in 2022, the film recounts the true story of the most lucrative heist ever recorded. The narrative revolves around Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan (Moretz) and Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, a pair of unconventional lovers and aspiring rapper-entrepreneurs. Their audacious scheme involves the theft of over $4 billion worth of cryptocurrency, ultimately leading to their apprehension by the Department of Justice and subsequent legal proceedings for conspiracy to launder the stolen bitcoin.
Baird’s recent directorial credits include Apple TV+’s biographical film ‘Tetris,’ which delves into the intriguing tale of how one of the world’s most beloved video games made its way to players globally, portraying the collaborative efforts of businessman Henk Rogers and Tetris inventor Alexey Pazhitnov as they take risks to make the game accessible to the masses. The filmmaker also directed ‘Stan & Ollie,’ a poignant depiction of Laurel and Hardy’s attempt to revive their stardom by joining a challenging theater tour across post-war Britain. Additionally, he has directed episodes of television shows such as ‘I’m Dying Up Here,’ ‘Feed the Beast,’ ‘Vinyl,’ and ‘Babylon.’
Moretz lent her voice to the titular character in Netflix’s animated film ‘Nimona,’ which revolves around a futuristic, medieval world in which a knight is wrongly accused of a crime and teams up with Nimona, a shapeshifting teen, to clear his name. In the sci-fi drama series ‘The Peripheral,’ the actress portrayed Flynne Fisher, who uncovers a hidden connection to an alternate reality and a troubling future. She also starred as Georgia in ‘Mother/Android,’ a post-apocalyptic tale that follows a young pregnant woman and her boyfriend as they navigate a world torn apart by an android uprising. Additionally, Moretz appeared in projects such as ‘Tom & Jerry,’ ‘Shadow in the Cloud,’ and ‘Gaslight.’
Logan and Noah Miller previously wrote ‘White Boy Rick,’ depicting the true story of teenager Richard Wershe Jr., who worked as an undercover informant for the FBI in the 1980s before being arrested for drug trafficking and receiving a life sentence. They also co-wrote and helmed the western thriller ‘Sweetwater,’ in which the paths of a religious zealot, a renegade sheriff, and a former prostitute intersect in a violent confrontation on the rugged plains of the New Mexico territory. The duo wrote and directed ‘Touching Home,’ a heartfelt tale of a father’s attempt to reconcile with his twin sons as they pursue their dreams of becoming professional baseball players.
The saga of Dutch and Razzlekhan has captured considerable attention in Hollywood, sparking the creation of several high-profile projects. Lily Collins was cast to portray the latter in the Hulu limited series ‘Razzlekhan: The Infamous Crocodile of Wall Street.’ Amazon MGM Studios, on the other hand, announced the development of the film ‘Razzlekhan,’ with Hannah Marks and Lili Reinhart on board as the director and producer respectively, earlier this year.
New Jersey, the main shooting location of the film, previously hosted the filming of Netflix’s ‘Joker: Folie à Deux‘ and ‘It Ends with Us.’
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