Epix pursues US jewel thief doc

Ron Howard (left) and Brian Grazer

MGM-owned premium US cablenet Epix has greenlit a documentary series about American jewel thief Jack Roland Murphy.

Murf the Surf will explore the life and notoriety of Murphy, who became a pop culture figure after being the mastermind behind the biggest heist in US history, at the Museum of Natural History in 1964.

Produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Documentaries and This Machine, the four-parter is written and directed by RJ Cutler (Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry, Belushi, The War Room).

Cutler also serves as producer alongside Trevor Smith (Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry), Grazer (Inside Man, American Gangster) and Howard (Rebuilding Paradise, Apollo 13).

Justin Wilkes (Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel) and Sara Bernstein (Rebuilding Paradise, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel) also exec produce for Imagine and Elise Pearlstein (American Factory, Food Inc) for This Machine.