The Italian Job (2003 film) by director F. Gary Gray as "inspired by the original." Gray, Powers and Powers, and executive producer James Dyer identified the most prominent similarities as the trio of Mini Coopers used by the thieves, as well as the titular heist involving the theft of gold bullion. Some sequences of the film were storyboarded and previsualized by Gray before production began. Gray had been interested in working with Wahlberg since seeing his performance in "Boogie Nights" (1997). After reading the script for "The Italian Job", Gray contacted Wahlberg, who "fell in love with it" after reading it himself. Green was also
The Italian Job by surrounding his character with images of the royal family, which had not knighted him at the time. A contemporary review in "Time" magazine felt that the film spent too much time focusing on the film's caper as opposed to building the characters; it also criticised the car chases as 'dull and deafening'. Although it received a Golden Globe nomination for "Best English-Language Foreign Film", the film was not a success in America. Caine blamed its failure on unattractive and misleading advertising. As a result, plans for a sequel were shelved. The movie was the 14th most popular at the