William H. Macy Faces Too Many Scammers As FME Launches Sales – AFM

EXCLUSIVE: William H. Macy (Fargo, Shameless) has signed on to star in the crime comedy Too Many Crooks as a career criminal on parole whose plan to rob a bank takes an unexpected turn when he discovers a heist is already underway at his chosen target.

Craig Berenson (Snakes on a Plane) and Todd Harris (Chicago 7) are producing the film, written by Eddie Richey (Phoenix) and directed by Raja Gosnell (Never Kissed, Grandma’s House, Scooby Doo).

Film Mode Entertainment (FME) has acquired global rights to the film, which is currently in pre-production, and will launch sales for the title at AFM next week.

Macy and FME President Clay Epstein also receive executive producer credits on the crime film, which is based on a Donald Westlake short story for which he was awarded the prestigious Edgar (Edgar Alan Poe) Award for Best Short Story in 1990.

Westlake has been recognized by many detective fiction writers and fans as one of the masters of the genre. Too Many Crooks it was published internationally, including in Playboy magazine.

“We are excited to launch Too Many Crooks at AFM and to work with Todd and Craig on another stellar feature,” said Epstein.

“The film is the perfect combination of commercial viability and quality content, with an engaging, highly entertaining story, a team of expert directors and the unparalleled talent of William H. Macy leading the cast.”

Macy’s character, John Dornhoefer, is a recently paroled career criminal ready to pull off another bank robbery. With his trusted but messy friend, Andy Karp, plans begin to take shape.

The meticulously planned operation takes an unexpected turn when he discovers that the bank has already been robbed.

Quick-witted Dornhoefer seizes an opportunity to protect the hostages, outwit the gunmen, and sweet-talk FBI agent Carol Reed, who is the lead negotiator for the hostages. But bad habits die hard, and while he may save the day, the money could still make it all worth it.

“Craig and I have loved Eddie Richey’s script for some time, and when you imagine William H. Macy in the lead, it all comes together beautifully with Bill’s intelligence, pathos and relatability,” said producer Harris.

The late American author Westlake wrote over a hundred novels and non-fiction books throughout his career, specializing in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with the occasional foray into science fiction and other genres.

Westlake created two professional criminal characters who each starred in a long-running series: the ruthless Parker (published under the pseudonym Richard Stark) and John Dortmunder, who appeared in a more humorous series.

He was a three-time Edgar Award winner and was one of the few writers to win Edgars in three different categories (1968, Best Novel, God save the sign; 1990, Best Short Story, Too Many Crooks; 1991, Best Screenplay, The Grifters).

Many of his works have become feature films with icons of the big screen such as Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, George C. Scott, Jean Luc Goddard, Christopher Lloyd, Antonio Banderas, André Holland and Gemma Chan, to name but a few.

An Oscar and Golden Globe nominee, Emmy and SAG Award-winning theater, film and TV actor and writer, Macy was most recently seen in the Disney film. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes; from Amazon Ricky Stanickydirected by Peter Farrelly; independent feature film Maybe yes; the Hulu miniseries abandonment, and starred in the Showtime series Shamelessfor which he was nominated twice for the Emmy Award for Best Actor and won twice for the SAG Award.

Macy is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company. He is represented by Atlas Artists and Independent Artist Group. Film Mode Entertainment is represented by Lon Haber & Co.