First look at This City Is Ours star James Nelson-Joyce in period drama about "audacious" heist

This City Is Ours star James Nelson-Joyce plays the real-life, "audacious" criminal who pulled off an incredible heist in the 1920s as The Man Who Stole Portugal movie has released a first-look image.

Directed by Thomas Napper, the film is inspired by one of the largest frauds in history perpetrated by Portuguese criminal Alves Reis against the Bank of Portugal in 1925.

By way of forged contracts, the conman convinced a banknote printing contractor to print banknotes that were virtually indistinguishable from the legitimate notes produced by the state bank.

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Alves would then lend the forged money to those who had been turned away by the established banks, with his scheme snowballing into almost bankrupting the entire country.

Nelson-Joyce plays Reis, described as an outsider who's determined to build a better life for his wife Maria, played by House of Guinness star Emily Fairn.

As The Man Who Stole Portugal has wrapped principal photography, a first-look image of its stacked cast has been released to mark the announcement.

The snap captures a crucial scene in the film, with Nelson-Joyce in character as Reis during the opening of his Bank of Angola and Metropole, surrounded by his wife Maria and some of his partners in the scheme – schoolfriend Jose (Joel Fry), diplomat Karel (Herbert Nordrum), and glamorous Dutch theatre star Fie (Nia Towle), who helps Reis's ruse reach the elites.

Rounding out the cast are Killing Eve's Kim Bodnia as sceptical businessman and Reis's financier Adolf, and Richard E Grant as Sir William Waterlow, the head of the British printing firm persuaded to produce the banknotes. Dominic West plays Carlos, a newspaper editor who helps expose the fraud.

Written by Richard Galazka and based on the book by Murray Teigh Bloom, The Man Who Stole Portugal is currently being sold at AFM (American Film Market).

"What drew me to Alves was how difficult he is to pin down," Nelson-Joyce said of his character. "I could really connect with his frustration at being underestimated, and that determination to prove people wrong.

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"What I found fascinating was how he manages to convince himself that everything he's doing is justified, even as the stakes become enormous. It's a remarkable story, but what makes it so entertaining is that you're never quite sure whether to cheer Alves on or beg him to stop."

Director Thomas Napper added: "Alves Reis is one of the most audacious criminals of the 20th century and I think what makes him so compelling is his vaulting imagination, combined with a Robin Hood-style attempt to share his wealth into the economy with the people that needed it the most."

He continued: "I wanted audiences to get caught up in this unique crime - and at a time when so many people feel the financial system is stacked against them, there's something really appealing about an outsider who cracks and hacks the code of the establishment but then uses this imaginatively and selflessly."

"We always felt this story deserved to be told on a big scale - they pulled off a $4 billion heist in today's money - but we were equally determined not to make a conventional period drama," producer Michael Elliott added.

"There's a real boldness to Richard's screenplay that Thomas and the cast have embraced wholeheartedly. It's been a hugely ambitious undertaking and I'm incredibly proud of the film we've made and excited for audiences to discover it."

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Reporter, Digital Spy

Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy. 

Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).