 Director John McTiernan (I) (qv) decided to change the heist from  a bank robbery, as was seen in the Steve McQueen (I) (qv) version,  to an art heist. as seen in this version. McTiernan felt that at the  time the film was released, audiences would be less forgiving of  Thomas Crown if he staged two armed bank robberies for fun than if  he staged an unarmed art heist.