Heist film starring british acting royalty has fans all saying the same thing

ALTHOUGH THE MOVIE’S CAST IS DOTTED WITH ACTING ROYALTY AS WELL AS THRILLING SOURCE MATERIAL, THE FILM FAILED TO MAKE AN IMPACT — BOTH COMMERCIALLY AND CRITICALLY. 07:00, 03 Jun 2025

Directed by James March, King of Thieves is a 2018 British heist film based on a true story. Co-written by Joe Penhall, Duncan Campbell, and Mark Seal, the movie depicts the real-life events

of the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary — a heist that was executed over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend in April 2015 by a group of experienced elderly thieves. Starring acting

heavyweights like Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon, Francesca Annis, Charlie Cox, Jim Broadbent, Paul Whitehouse and Ray Winstone — the true crime movie follows a gang of retired

criminals (and one young-blooded alarms expert). The group plans and executes a daring robbery in London’s jewellery district during the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. However, greed quickly

turns their last hurrah into a collapsing nightmare. Although the movie’s cast is dotted with acting royalty as well as thrilling source material, King of Thieves failed to make an impact —

both commercially and critically. According to Box Office Mojo, the film garnered only $7,518 domestically in the United States and Canada, of which $3,502 was earned during the opening

weekend. The movie grossed approximately $11.5 million at the worldwide box-office. Most of its scenes were filmed in central London and around Margate in Kent, featuring locations such as

the Wig and Pen Pub, the Nayland Rock Hotel, Harbour Arm, the area outside Turner Contemporary, and Margate railway station. Abbott's Cliff in Dover is also visible in the train scene

where Brian Reader (Michael Caine) travels to Margate. Article continues belowREAD MORE: War epic with John Wayne and Sean Connery 'is the best D-Day movie ever made'READ MORE:

'Powerful' war film tells true story of life behind enemy lines for troops With a 31 per cent review rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie didn’t manage to make too many waves.

Critics and audiences were left unimpressed with the film's execution, with one reviewer writing: “The Hatton Gardens heist was a ballsy operation. You can't say the same about

King of Thieves.” Another critic said: “King of Thieves really should have delivered way more cinematic swag than it does.” While one wrote: “Torn between jaunty genre hijinks and a bleaker

streak of realism, it's a strangely stiff, lethargic account of a cracking tale.” A harsh critical review of the film said: “There is one joke in King of Thieves, and it's that the

thieves are old. That's it—that's the whole movie,” while another one said: “Marsh had his hands on some very fancy jewels. What he didn't have, sadly, was the script to make

them gleam.” Audiences were left disappointed as well, with one viewer saying: “Passes the time but little else. Tries hard to be both a comedy and a thriller but doesn't really

succeed at either. For such a daring burglary, this could have surely been done a lot better.” Another audience review compared the film to the botched heist and wrote: “Based on a real

account of a robbery in London and featuring a superb all British cast. Very much like the botched heist, the plot here is in shambles all over the place.” Yet another viewer couldn’t hide

their disappointment and said: “It's poorly written. The heist isn't that exciting. The humour isn't funny.” While one viewer added: “Not a gripping tale. At times the

audience were laughing - was this supposed to be a comedy??? Difficult to remember the names of the robbers...who was who?" Article continues below They further said: "Undoubtedly

the royalty of British male actors but the story was weak. It could have been much better if there was character and story development of the Police activity pitted against the perpetrators.

Shame - not worth a look.” _KING OF THIEVES IS AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO AND NETFLIX._