Halle Berry Lands Female Lead Opposite Chris Hemsworth In Amazon MGM Studios Thriller ‘Crime 101’

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Halle Berry is in negotiations to join the cast of Amazon MGM Studios’ adaptation of Don Winslow’s short story Crime 101, Bart Layton’s anticipated follow-up to American Animals that will star Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Barry Keoghan. The pic will be released in theaters next year.

Breaking Baz: Chris Hemsworth & Sam Rockwell Bring Star Power To Support Stunt Artists In First 'Stuntnuts' Movie, Part Of New Matthew Vaughn Marv Films Franchise

Plot details are under wraps, but the original short story by Winslow has shades of Heat as it follows high-level jewel thefts taking place up and down the Pacific Coast that police have linked to Colombian cartels. Detective Lou Lubesnick has other ideas and he zeroes in on one perp, a thief looking for a final score. The film will shoot this month.

Layton is directing and wrote the script with contributions from Peter Straughan. Producers include Story Factory’s Shane Salerno, Working Title’s Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, RAW’s Layton and Dimitri Doganis and Derrin Schlesinger. RAW’s Joely Fether will executive produce.

Pedro Pascal was linked to the project last year to star with Hemsworth but wound up departing the project due to scheduling conflicts. Hemsworth will also produce alongside his producing partner Ben Grayson.

'Never Let Go' Director Alexandre Aja On The Formula Of Creating Scares And Strong Female Horror Leads

Berry’s acting career includes her historic 2002 win as the first, and only, African American woman to receive the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Monster’s Ball . She also starred in and produced Introducing Dorothy Dandridge for HBO, for which she won both the Emmy and Golden Globe, and starred in and produced Frankie and Alice , which garnered her a Globe nomination. Additional credits include Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever , Boomerang with Eddie Murphy, X-Men , Die Another Day , The Call , John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum , and, most recently, Netflix’s The Union .

Through her production company HalleHolly, Berry has produced the Lionsgate thriller Never Let Go , and will soon work on Maude Vs. Maude and The Process . She is represented by WME, Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole and Range Media Partners.

Weekend Box Office Upset! 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' At $26M Dispels 'Transformers One' From No. 1; Halle Berry & Demi Moore Genre Pics Come Up Short -- Sunday AM Update