Fela’s ‘Gentleman’ soundtracks ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ trailer

The 1973 Afrobeat classic features in the trailer for Michael B. Jordan’s forthcoming Hollywood heist thriller.

More than five decades after Fela Anikulapo-Kuti released “Gentleman”, the Afrobeat legend’s music has found its way into another international production, with the classic track featured on the soundtrack of the upcoming Hollywood film, “The Thomas Crown Affair.”

The track provides the musical backdrop for several scenes in the trailer, introducing a new generation of international audiences to Fela’s music.

Fela released “Gentleman” in 1973 as the title track of his album of the same name. The song combines highlife rhythms, jazz-inspired horns and Afrobeat elements to criticise colonial mentality and the tendency to imitate Western lifestyles.

“The Thomas Crown Affair” will be released in cinemas worldwide on 5 March 2027.

Jordan leads the cast as Thomas Crown, a billionaire and art thief who plans an elaborate robbery to execute a revenge mission.

The film also features Adria Arjona, Kenneth Branagh, Lily Gladstone, Danai Gurira and Pilou Asbæk.

Arjona plays an insurance investigator who sets out to track down the Crown, while Branagh also takes on a key role.

Jordan’s adaptation introduces a different motivation for Crown’s actions compared with the previous versions.

In this instalment, the billionaire seeks to retrieve stolen cultural artefacts and return them to their rightful owners.

His mission sets up a tense cat-and-mouse chase with Bennet, a former FBI agent who joins the investigation into his activities.

The film is the third adaptation of the story, after the 1968 version, which featured Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, and the 1999 remake starring Pierce Brosnan and René Russo.

John McTiernan directed the 1999 remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair”, featuring Pierce Brosnan as a wealthy billionaire who steals a priceless Monet painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art out of sheer boredom.

René Russo plays Catherine Banning, an insurance investigator determined to catch him, while Faye Dunaway takes on a supporting role.