Based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery. 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. [2][24], On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 34% based on reviews from 97 critics, with an average rating of 4.63/10. To say this evening was incredible would be a terrible injustice to just how epic it truly was! FBI Special Agent Scanlon (Leslie Jones) and her partner (Jon Daly) take the case, and immediately have David as the prime suspect, but have no idea of Steve's involvement. [9] On June 10, 2013, Owen Wilson joined the cast of the film. 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. Diamant was a Charlotte Observer newspaper reporter working in their Gaston County bureau when the theft took place. The heist became the premise for the movie, Masterminds, released in September 2016. [1], Steven Chambers finished serving his sentence in November 2006. Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy a Toyota Sienna minivan in two cash installments. Toggle navigation. [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]. An inept hitman was sent to kill David Ghantt. Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. He also observed the filmmaking of Hess as "suggest[ing] a kinship with the transcendental cinema of Robert Bresson and Carl Theodor Dreyer.... his images belong to a similar realm of astonishment, even if his are frankly comedic where theirs are irreconcilably tragic.

That's nice. [1] Tips had led the FBI to begin monitoring Chambers' (and his wife's) activities, but it was not until the FBI recorded a phone call from Ghantt in Mexico that the final connection was made. The film was projected to gross $10 million from 3,042 theaters in its opening weekend. In February 2009 the Associated Press reported that Chambers had chosen to describe himself as "changed". Before he leaves, David takes out three CCTV tapes, but misses one. With his cover blown, Steve hires the real, but unstable hitman, Michael McKinney (Jason Sudeikis) to hunt David down. Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning and called the police. The Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery was a robbery of $17.3 million in cash from the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis, Fargo & Co. on the evening of October 4, 1997. [7][8], "David Ghantt" redirects here. "[28] On the other hand, Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film three out of four stars, stating that "If smart dumb comedies hold a place in your heart, you'll like 'Masterminds.'" He is an uncomplicated man stuck in a monotonous life. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis). David Ghantt found out, the cash isn't greener on the other side. The only defendant to not plead guilty, Chambers' attorney Jeff Guller, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to eight years in prison. Several cars and nine safety deposit boxes were seized, authorities said. "[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." Day in and day out he drives an armored vehicle, transporting millions of other people’s money with no escape in sight. Kelly is then attacked by Jandice, who learns her engagement with David, at the mall and escapes. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer. He was released in 2006. In this action comedy based on true events, directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite; Nacho Libre), David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) … Continue reading >> Categories Movie Trailers , … The police then called the FBI because most of the money handled at the facility belonged to banks, which technically made it a bank robbery — a federal offense.[5]. David tricks Steve into admitting that he was the mastermind of the whole plan, giving the agents enough reason to arrest all of them, including Kelly. David Ghantt struck up a relationship with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell, and they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. I had a hard time liftin' it up. Inside the truck, they found Ghantt's ring and surmised this was a sign of Ghantt's intention to end his relationship with his wife. [19] The film was pulled from the October 9, 2015 release date[20] before being released on September 30, 2016. The next day, David flees to Mexico with $20,000 and takes the cover name "Michael McKinney", which is the name of a friend of Steve's.

: ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score, How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, Is the ACT easier than the SAT? Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task. When David regains consciousness, McKinney is about to kill him but reconsiders upon looking at "McKinney"'s birth certificate, thinking that David was born under the same circumstances; they become friends. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. More than 2 million dollars is still missing to this day. Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. That’s nearly $11 million less than former Kings Mountain resident David Ghantt (played by Galifianakis in the film) helped steal from the vault where he worked in Charlotte back in October 1997. David calls Steve, threatening to surrender himself to Interpol if Steve doesn't wire $6 million into his bank account in two days. At the time it was the second largest cash robbery ever to happen on US soil. David Ghantt was the vault supervisor for Loomis, Fargo & Co. armored cars in 1997. "[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? Directed by Jared Hess. [22] The film made $2,325,546 on its first day. "He had only kissed Kelly once, that it turned out to be an extremely expensive kiss," Rozzi points out. [7] On July 10, Jon Daly joined the cast of the film to play an FBI agent. 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. [21][17], Masterminds was released in North America on September 30, 2016. That’s nearly $11 million less than former Kings Mountain resident David Ghantt (played by Galifianakis in the film) helped steal from the vault where he worked in Charlotte back in October 1997. They involve Loomis armored car driver David Scott Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis). In the film, Jason Sudeikis plays a sadistic assassin … 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. [17] The film was previously scheduled to be released on August 19, 2015, a date which, in July 2015, Relativity rescheduled to October 9, 2015. Upon David's release, he is picked up by McKinney and they drive to visit Kelly. He was the only employee unaccounted for the next morning, and videotapes recovered at the Loomis Fargo Charlotte office showed Ghantt removing "cubes of cash" and loading it into a Loomis Fargo armored van for over an hour.