Actress and singer Janelle Monáe is set to star in and produce the Universal Pictures adaptation of Tanya Smith’s heist memoir Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System—and Pocketed $40 Million.
Monáe will produce the project about an unsuspecting woman who hatches a clever white-collar scheme that manipulates the U.S. banking system out of millions through Wondaland Pictures’ first look deal with Universal, with Smith to executive produce.
When the FBI finally cornered Smith, they refused to believe a black woman could be the architect of sophisticated financial crimes, as they smugly asserted “these are not the kind of crimes black people are smart enough to commit,” according to a synopsis from the producers. For her financial wrongdoing as detailed in her memoir, Smith completed a harsh prison sentence, but today has become an advocate for prison reform, racial justice and economic equality.
Monáe has screen credits that include Moonlight, Hidden Figures, Antebellum, Harriet, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and the Amazon series Homecoming. The Grammy-nominated singer/rapper, songwriter, arranger and producer has album credits like The ArchAndroid (2010), The Electric Lady (2013), Dirty Computer (2018) and The Age of Pleasure (2023).
The deal for Never Saw Me Coming follows earlier Universal Pictures’ acquisition of book adaptation rights for Britney Spears’ memoir The Woman in Me,Colleen Hoover’s Reminders of Him, Percival Everett’s James, Stacey Abrams’ Rules of Engagement and Mark A. Bradley’s Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America.
Monáe is represented by Wondaland Management and WME. Smith is represented by Yorn Levine.
