CULTURE

Kim Kardashian’s Robbery Will Be Turned Into Two Different French Films

Both are based on graphic novels.

Oct. 10, 2019

Getty Images for Siran

Kim Kardashian West’s life has basically become folklore at this point, so perhaps it was just a matter of time until it inspired a proper feature film. Though, don’t jump to conclusions: Kardashian’s entire life is not getting the big awards bait biopic (nor it’s downmarket cousin, the Lifetime movie) treatment just yet. Rather, a specific episode from her life will serve as loose inspiration for an upcoming French film by a critically acclaimed director.

Joann Sfar has announced the film Fashion Week, a comedy which will apparently take inspiration from Kardashian’s robbery during Paris Fashion Week in 2016. The reality television star was held at gunpoint by a group of men dressed as police officer who then made off with around $9 million worth of jewelry, cash and other valuable. Kardashian took an extended break from social media and public appearances for a while, but eventually returned to her career (while also now pursuing a law degree on the side). 17 people were eventually arrested in conjunction with the crime.

Though, Sfar won’t be framing his tale as a direct re-imagination from actual events; the incident was just the spark of inspiration. According to Variety, he won’t even try to cast a Kardashian-lookalike in the main role, but rather “someone who captures what the reality-star represents.”

The director tells the trade that film will explore, “violence against women, the relationship between the very rich people and the less rich, the world of fashion and the encounter between figures of new and old worlds.” Interestingly, it may focus more on the exploits of the thieves than the Kardashian figure herself. It will also mostly be in the French language, but may feature an international cast.

Sfar originally came to prominence as an author and cartoonist of graphic novels (indeed, he has already penned a graphic novel version of the movie), but in more recent years has directed films of both the live action and animated variety. His first Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, was a biopic of French icon Serge Gainsbourg that featured Lucy Gordon as Jane Birkin and supermodel Laetitia Casta as Brigette Bardot. His latest, The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun, was a stylish, vintage-tinged mystery thriller that was well received by critics.

It appears that the Kardashian robbery has managed to retain the attention of the French even more so than those in her home country. Indeed, Sfar’s graphic novel would be the second French comic to take on the case. Investigative journalists Julien Dumond and François Vignolle teamed with illustrator Grégory Mardon to release the graphic novel Les Bijoux de la Kardashian (literally, “The Jewels of the Kardashian”) was released earlier this year, and unlike Sfar’s take, it’s a quite literal take on the heist.

According to French media, that book too is being made into a film.

Of course, it can always seem slightly concerning when someone’s real life trauma is used as the basis of the film, but this would hardly be the first time celebrity crime has served as direct or indirect inspiration for fiction. The Law & Order franchise regularly dips into that well, as does American Crime Story (the first season of which featured the Kardashian daughters as children). Sofia Coppola’s Bling Ring also focused on a band of thieves that targeted celebrities, though with far less violence. The Kardashians themselves, of course, already chronicled the robbery at its aftermath in their preferred medium of reality television. Kardashian also released a fragrance inspired by her healing after the event.

In any event, if you’re a Kardashian fan looking to brush up on your French, here’s your chance.