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 (2003 film) Director at the 2004 American Black Film Festival. Clay Cullen, Michael Caines, Jean Paul Ruggiero and Mike Massa won an award for Best Specialty Stunt at the 2004 Taurus World Stunt Awards for the boat chase through the canals of Venice. "The Italian Job" was nominated for the 2003 Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film, but lost to "Kill Bill." In April 2009, IGN named the film's Los Angeles chase sequence one of the top 10 car chases of the 21st Century. Criminologist Nicole Rafter saw "The Italian Job" as part of a revival of the heist film around the