“It started out riffing on , but recognizing that we also want to unshackle that story and plant it in more contemporary language,” says Baz Luhrmann, legendary film director—and now photographer of September 2024 cover shoot, starring Blake Lively and Hugh Jackman. Fans of the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock classic starring and Cary Grant will immediately clock the homage: a golden-haired (Hitchcock had a well-known ) glamourpuss, diamonds galore, amid the seaside playground of the Principality of Monaco. But Luhrmann, who shot the cinematic spread (formatted with a type-written screenplay entitled “The Heist of the Heart”) entirely at New York City’s Pier59 Virtual Production using LED Volume technology to produce sweeping backdrops of Monte Carlo, gives us a new tale to ogle over.
“It turns out that our thief is, in fact, to use an old term, a ‘femme fatale,’” adds Luhrmann. “It was all about finding an imagined role for that perhaps we’d all like to see her play.” Luhrmann was inspired by Lively’s sphinx-like role in —its sequel is forthcoming–and cast her husband’s o-star Hugh Jackman as the “L’Ombre” to Lively’s “The Cat.
” (A switcheroo of Cary Grant and Kelly’s roles as the cat burglar and the jewelry-dripping target in the Hitchcock original.) Speaking of jewels, in the haute joaillerie-heavy photos you’ll also find a Cartier necklace with an extraordinary provenance: the ruby-laden necklace belonging to Kelly’s friend and fe.