In September 2024, it was reported that
Kelly Reichardt would write and direct the art heist film
The Mastermind. Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, and Vincent Savino would produce for Filmscience, with
Mubi financing the film and distributing in North America.
Josh O'Connor would star in the film. In October 2024,
Alana Haim and
John Magaro joined the cast. On November 13, 2024, it was reported that production had begun, with
Hope Davis,
Bill Camp,
Gaby Hoffmann,
Amanda Plummer, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, Javion Allen,
Matthew Maher, and
Rhenzy Feliz having joined the cast.
Inspirations Reichardt had a long-running fascination with art thefts, and had been collecting newspaper clippings about heists for years. She remarked that in the 1970s, it was relatively easy to steal art, and that the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist happened because there were "
acid heads running the security." She was specifically inspired by the
1972 robbery of the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, in which two
Gauguins, a
Picasso, and a
Rembrandt were stolen. She started working on the movie after reading about the 50th anniversary of the Worcester heist. She explained that "I'm just fascinated with people stealing art, and the idea of taking something from a public space to enjoy on your own, like the people that had the
de Kooning in their bedroom. Instead of everyone enjoying this painting, it'll just be you behind your bedroom door." Although many Reichardt films are shot in the Pacific Northwest, Reichardt set the film in Massachusetts because she went to art school in the state and felt that the script "makes sense [as] a Massachusetts story." JB has the luxury of not being "tuned in to the political climate," although reality remains "just on the edges of the frame." She noted that JB was "rebelling against his middle-class life" without "a clear idea of what the alternative would be," and "mindlessly[] ... take[s] advantage of his privilege whenever he is in trouble or whenever he needs to." JB's unfocused rebellion ties into a common Reichardt theme, "the individual versus the person in a community." Reichardt said that the film was in part about the "cost" of "personal freedom," explaining that "being able to be the outlaw is a privilege" and that JB relies on the women in his life to "carr[y] the weight" of his antics. She added that the film questions whether a person can "really remain separate from what's going on around [them]." In the film, JB steals four real
Arthur Dove paintings:
Tree Forms (1932),
Willow Tree (1937),
Tanks & Snowbanks (1938), and
Yellow, Blue-Green and Brown (1941). However, he passes up the chance to steal more famous paintings, some of which reside in Washington, D.C.'s
National Gallery of Art, such as
John Singer Sargent's
Street in Venice,
Mary Cassatt's
Child in a Straw Hat,
Frederic Edwin Church's
Niagara, and
Thomas Cole's
The Voyage of Life: Youth. Sarah Belmont agreed that "figuring out who [JB] is and what drives him becomes almost as important as knowing if he will get away with his master plan." ==Release==