Washington [US], February 20 : Actress and singer Janelle Monae is set to star in and produce the Universal Pictures adaptation of Tanya Smith's heist memoir 'Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System--and Pocketed $40 Million'.
Monae will also produce the project about an unsuspecting woman who hatches a clever white-collar scheme that manipulates the U.S. banking system out of millions through Wondaland Pictures' first-look deal with Universal, with Smith to executive produce, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"When the FBI finally cornered Smith, they refused to believe a black woman could be the architect of sophisticated financial crimes, as they smugly asserted, "These are not the kind of crimes black people are smart enough to commit," according to a synopsis from the producers," as per the outlet.
For her financial wrongdoing, as detailed in her memoir, Smith has completed a harsh prison sentence for her financial wrongdoing as per her memoir. But, now she is an advocate for prison reform, racial justice and economic equality, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
Monae was part of Moonlight, Hidden Figures, Antebellum, Harriet, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and the Amazon series Homecoming. The Grammy-nominated singer/rapper, songwriter, arranger and producer has album credits like The ArchAndroid (2010), The Electric Lady (2013), Dirty Computer (2018) and The Age of Pleasure (2023).
Janelle Monae has received ten Grammy Award nominations and is the recipient of a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Children's and Family Emmy Award. Monae has also been honoured with the ASCAP Vanguard Award, as well as the Rising Star Award (2015) and the Trailblazer of the Year Award (2018) from Billboard Women in Music.