Vincent Cassel has been tapped to play the famed French criminal Jacques Mesrine in a two-part project set to begin shooting next summer says The Hollywood Reporter.

The films will be directed by Jean-Francois Richet. The two pictures were written by Abdel Raouf Dafri and are titled Death Instinct and Public Enemy Number One. The films are based on the true story of Mesrine's life, a man known for his clever disguises, womanizing and audacious bank robberies and jail-breaks. Born to a prosperous family in 1937, Mesrine became a legend in his lifetime, reportedly wearing designer clothes and displaying impeccable courtesy to those he robbed.

Cassel was last seen in Ocean's Twelve as, ironically, a French thief known as the Nightfox and will be featured as the lead villain in the upcoming thriller Derailed with Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston.

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