”Sexy Beast” Scribe Penning “Princess' Gangster”

The "true" story of Princess Margaret's romance in the '60s with a London thug-turned-actor is on its way from the genius who gave us "Sexy Beast."

Louis Mellis will be writing "Princess' Gangster," which will tell the story of John Bindon, who was just a blue collar thug when director Ken Loach spotted him in a London pub and cast him in the 1967 film "Poor Cow," making him a minor celebrity. The following year, Bindon claimed to have had an affair with Princess Margaret while in the Caribbean, touching off a national scandal.

If the story seems vaguely familiar, it was alluded to in the 2008 heist film, "The Bank Job," starring Jason Statham. Photos from Princess Margaret's Caribbean affair are in a safety deposit box owned by a Caribbean gangster who is using the photos to keep the police out of his business.

"We needed someone who could give us an authentic voice, because Bindon, who could break your legs but who was also a mini-celebrity, was a force of nature," said producer Patrick Milling Smith. "He was a real raconteur and full-on entertainer. There aren't many people who can inhabit characters like that and make then amusing, but Louis definitely can."

Bindon went on to work security for Led Zeppelin and was later acquitted of the murder of a London gangster. He became a recluse in the  1980s, and died at age 50 in 1993. His death has been alternately attributed to AIDS and cancer, but details have remained sketchy.

Mellis is definitely the perfect choice for this story. In addition to writing "Sexy Beast," also penned this year's "44 Inch Chest," starring Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson in a story of about a cuckold who rallies the troops to seek revenge. "44" was very nearly great, but but the dialog and acting were top notch.

Curiously, "Poor Cow" also starred a very young Terrence Stamp, the star of Mellis' "Sexy Beast." Footage of Stamp from "Cow" was used in "Sexy" as flashaback for his character.

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