That's nice. But, with the help of his new co-worker, he was about to change that. On February 1, 2013, Jim Carrey joined the cast. [11] On May 16, 2014, Kristen Wiig joined the cast,[5] and on June 25, 2014, Jason Sudeikis was added as well. From the beginning, the FBI’s prime suspect was David Ghantt. "He had only kissed Kelly once, that it turned out to be an extremely expensive kiss," Rozzi points out. It’s based on the true story of David Ghantt (Galifianikas), a vault supervisor at the Charlotte Loomis Fargo depository in Uptown Charlotte that was involved in the second largest cash robbery in history, making off with $17.4 million ($25 million today). [9] On June 10, 2013, Owen Wilson joined the cast of the film. [16] The BB&T Center building, also the location of the production office, was transformed into the "Park Street Citizens Bank", with a Loomis Fargo burgundy truck parked outside of the entrance. With the plan in place, Ghantt sent a newly employed co-worker home early (reportedly at 6 p.m) who had been assigned to train with him. An FBI criminal investigation ultimately resulted in the arrest and conviction of eight people directly involved in the heist, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them, and the recovery of approximately 88% of the stolen money. On March 12, a Charlotte grand jury indicted the eight co-conspirators for bank larceny and money laundering; the latter offense was included because of how they spent the stolen money. "[29] Richard Brody of The New Yorker also gave praise to the film, writing that "Yes, the comedy is funny—even when it’s not laugh-out-loud funny, it’s sparklingly inventive and charmingly loopy—but, above all, it has the religious intensity and spiritual resonance that marks all of Hess’s other films, and it extends his world of ideas into wild new realms, extends his vision into darker corners of existence than he had formerly contemplated." Although the history of the predecessor Wells Fargo & Company dates back to 1852, Loomis Fargo & Company was established in 1997 by the consolidation of Wells Fargo Armored Service and Loomis Armored Inc.; the resulting corporation employed 8,500 people and provided armored transportation, cash handling services, and automatic teller machine maintenance. With his cover blown, Steve hires the real, but unstable hitman, Michael McKinney (Jason Sudeikis) to hunt David down. By then, the FBI had become greatly concerned for Ghantt's personal safety; they had learned that Chambers had plotted to have Ghantt killed in a murder for hire scheme using a "hit man" named Michael McKinney. For the New York State assemblyman, see. Toggle navigation. He and his wife, Michelle, moved from their mobile home in Lincoln County to a luxury house in the wealthy Cramer Mountain section of Cramerton. Then-Charlotte Observer reporter Jeff Diamant wrote extensively about the story as it … He attended two colleges after graduating from high school, but dropped out of both after a few years. [1], Steven Chambers finished serving his sentence in November 2006. People did come up to me and asked me for my autograph. He also took various measures to change his appearance, such as shaving, after a patron at a restaurant pointed out to him that he "looked like the man who robbed a bank of $20 million. Diamant was a Charlotte Observer newspaper reporter working in their Gaston County bureau when the theft took place. An additional tip reached the FBI when Michelle Chambers made a large deposit at a bank. "[30], Wyatt Redd (September 2, 2018; updated February 7, 2019), October 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery in North Carolina, "Was 'Masterminds' the Last Straw for Relativity? [6] On June 30, 2014, Ken Marino, Kate McKinnon, Devin Ratray, Leslie Jones, Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Ross Kimball joined the cast. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including a painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet. Was the movie real? In this action comedy based on true events, directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite; Nacho Libre), David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) … [13][16], The film was released in the United States on September 30, 2016. Masterminds is a 2016 American comedy film based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery in North Carolina. Day in and day out he drives an armored vehicle, transporting millions of other people’s money with no escape in sight. Upon David's release, he is picked up by McKinney and they drive to visit Kelly. Before he leaves, David takes out three CCTV tapes, but misses one. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning and called the police. Steve catches and assaults him, until David realizes he is near the FBI van with the agents inside. Zach Galifianakis played David Scott Ghantt, with other … [3][4] Its Charlotte office would be the victim of David Scott Ghantt and his confederates later that year. Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. ", https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Masterminds-(2015), "Kristen Wiig Joins Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson in Relativity Comedy (Exclusive)", "Jason Sudeikis To Play Hit Man In Jared Hess Heist Comedy", "Ken Marino, 'SNL's Kate McKinnon, More Join Jared Hess Heist Comedy", "Jon Daly Joins Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig in Armored Car Heist Comedy", "Jim Carrey Joins 'Napoleon Dynamite' Helmer For 'Loomis Fargo, "Owen Wilson Joins Jim Carrey in the Formerly-Titled Loomis Fargo", "Zach Galifianakis in Final Negotiations to Join Owen Wilson in Relativity Heist Comedy (Exclusive)", David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story, "Galifianakis movie will extend filming in Asheville", "First look at Asheville area Galifianakis movie set", "Comedy filming already transforming downtown Asheville", "Relativity Moving Release of 'Kidnap' With Halle Berry (EXCLUSIVE)", https://www.thewrap.com/kristen-wiig-zach-galifianakis-comedy-masterminds-yanked-by-relativity/, "Relativity Dates Five Films For 2016 Including 'Kidnap' & 'Masterminds, https://variety.com/2016/more/news/deepwater-horizon-again-leads-studios-tv-ad-spending-1201870553/, "Masterminds Movie Review & Film Summary", "Jared Hess's Spiritual Gross-Out Comedy, in "Masterminds, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Masterminds_(2016_film)&oldid=1006605035, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 February 2021, at 20:08. [7] On July 10, Jon Daly joined the cast of the film to play an FBI agent. So no, it wasn't all real. Investigators also found Ghantt's pickup truck, abandoned at the warehouse. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis). The only defendant to not plead guilty, Chambers' attorney Jeff Guller, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to eight years in prison. They had initially agreed to control their spending for a year or two, in the belief that the government would vigorously track the spending habits of any and all suspects for at least a year before relenting. [12], The title used in media coverage was Untitled Armored Car. For a time, it was nicknamed "the hillbilly heist" because nearly all of the major players in the case came from small towns around Charlotte. Stuck in a dead-end job, David Ghantt decides to take destiny into his own hands. Skip to content. In this action comedy inspired by true events, directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite; Nacho Libre), David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) discovers the true meaning of adventure far beyond his wildest dreams. Two days later, when the FBI found the Loomis Fargo armored van, they discovered almost $3.3 million in cash left in the back of the van; it was later discovered that the thieves had miscalculated the sheer bulk of the small denomination currency, and that they simply left the cash that they could not take with them in the back of the van. David calls Steve, threatening to surrender himself to Interpol if Steve doesn't wire $6 million into his bank account in two days. While Steve is hosting a party, the FBI puts a wire on one of the party members in an attempt to record Steve's confession. They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 cigar store Indian. [1], This robbery was the second-largest cash robbery on U.S. soil at the time, as only seven months earlier, on March 29, 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida, Phillip Noel Johnson stole $18.8 million from the Loomis Fargo armored vehicle he was driving.[2]. [citation needed], The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. David Ghantt And The Loomis Fargo Heist: The Outrageous True Story David Ghantt walked out of the Loomis Fargo heist with the money in hand — but then the problems started piling up. [21][17], Masterminds was released in North America on September 30, 2016. Michelle Chambers received a few more months than Ghantt, because she had violated several bond conditions. The site's critical consensus reads, "Mastermind's great cast and stranger-than-fiction true story are largely wasted on a scattershot comedy with a handful of funny moments and far too much wackiness. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. David Ghantt was a technical consultant for the film, but due to outstanding court-ordered restitution for his part in the heist he was not paid. [5][4] Gantt attended Roberts Wesleyan College for two years using a partial basketball scholarship, but dropped out due to the financial constraints on his family. Several cars and nine safety deposit boxes were seized, authorities said. He was released in 2006. Chambers would then occasionally wire Ghantt money and see to his basic financial needs; when "the heat was off," Ghantt was to re-enter the U.S. and the money would be split up among all of the co-conspirators. Realizing that he can't bring himself to kill her, they switch tickets just as the three Interpol agents attempt to catch David. The robbery was committed by Loomis vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steven Eugene Chambers (a one-time FBI informant), his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. Ghantt's spending in Mexico was extravagant at first. He finds David and attempts to shoot him, but the gun backfires and David escapes. It didn’t take him long to realize that fancy titles like supervisor didn’t necessarily come with a great wage. When Steve refuses to wire the money, his two friends kidnap Kelly and he tells David to get a ticket to South America in exchange for her release. He then proceeded to load about $17.3 million in cash (approximately $11 million of which was in $20 bills) into the back of a company van. Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. [13] Principal photography began on July 7, 2014, in Black Mountain and Swannanoa, North Carolina in the Asheville area. A guard at an armored car company in the Southern U.S. organizes one of the biggest bank heists in American history.