- Crime 101 Writer-director Bart Layton has revealed the biggest challenge he faced in his new film
- The film directed by Chris Hemsworth is based on a short story of the same name
- It is the first non-true crime project Layton has worked on.
Crime 101The writer-director opened up about the biggest creative challenge he faced when tackling his new film.
Speaking exclusively to TechRadar, Bart Layton said turning Don Winslow’s short story of the same name into a two-hour feature film was daunting in itself. However, he also admitted that, compared to previous films he worked on, having the creative freedom to take Crime 101The film adaptation in a different direction from its source material was equally intimidating.
Until now, Layton’s work had consisted of crime genre, that is, big and small screen offerings focused on stories involving criminal activities. However, from the British filmmaker’s 2012 BAFTA award-winning film The imposter to the underrated of 2018 american animalsAll of these productions were based on real-life crimes, such as the latter’s version of the 2004 Transylvania University book theft.
Since one of the most anticipated new movies of 2026 is based on a work of fiction rather than reality, Layton had to deal not only with embellishing Winslow’s novel, but also with a story that is highly regarded among fans of the beloved American author. On top of all that, the Amazon and Sony movie needed to deliver on the stakes of the character’s arc, while also being visually and narratively compelling. No pressure then, Mr. Barton!
“The short story was a really great foundation for me to expand on,” Layton told me. “Having never worked in fiction, what was most challenging for me is that I could do anything [I wanted]. For example, you can kill a character or have them survive at the end.
“You don’t have the parameters of a true crime story, which is very helpful. There’s a limit to what those stories can go, but for something like this, you have to learn to let your imagination run wild.
Look
“You have to take this short story and turn it into a movie with three great characters,” Layton continued. “They’re all on a collision course, but you have to give them all a really meaningful and satisfying arc, and you have to care deeply about them.” [as a viewer]. You can have all the action in the world, but if you’re not interested in the characters, you’re like, “Okay, cool, I guess that was fun.”
“With this, I think it’s more of an emotional roller coaster. [than what I’ve done before]so I think I just kept an eye on that and constantly reminded myself that it’s really important that this be a character-driven story instead of just a plot-driven story.
“And Don was incredibly generous,” he added. “He let me do whatever I wanted and it was a relief that he loved the movie as much as he did.”
Crime 101 will be released in theaters around the world on Friday, February 13 with a main video The launch is expected to be announced later this year.
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