Lupin, Netflix's French heist drama, is the victim of a theft

Lupin became a global phenomenon upon its release in January 2021 and is among Netflix's most streamed non-English-language original shows. PHOTO: NETFLIX

PARIS (NYTIMES) - Lupin, the hit French heist drama, was itself at the centre of a heist last week when about 20 young men wearing balaclavas stole equipment valued at about 300,000 euros (S$449,000) from the set during filming in a Paris suburb, a Netflix spokesman said.

The theft, which was reported by international news service Agence France-Presse and French newspaper Le Parisien, came just over a week after more than 200 antique props valued at about £150,000 (S$272,000) were stolen from vehicles during the filming of the fifth season of royal drama The Crown in England, according to the South Yorkshire Police and Netflix.

Netflix said in a statement on Thursday (March 3) that there was an "incident" during the filming of the third season of Lupin on Feb 25.

"Our cast and crew are safe, and there were no injuries," the statement said. "We have now resumed filming."

A Netflix spokesman said that equipment and other items were stolen by men who showed up on the set and "attacked" with fireworks.

Filming was paused for an afternoon, and local police were investigating, she said.

Lupin became a global phenomenon upon its release in January 2021 and is among Netflix's most streamed non-English-language original shows.

French actor Omar Sy plays Assane Diop, a debonair Parisian and the son of a Senegalese immigrant who idolises Arsene Lupin, the "gentleman thief" and main character in a collection of stories by French writer Maurice Leblanc starting in 1905.

A spokesman for the police in Nanterre, the suburb outside Paris where the filming was taking place, said he could not comment on the case.

In an earlier statement about the theft from The Crown, Netflix said that it hoped the items stolen from the set in Doncaster, in northern England, would be found and returned.

The stolen items included a replica of a Faberge egg, several sets of silver and gold candelabra, the face of a William IV grandfather clock, a 10-piece silver dressing-table set, and crystal glassware, according to a report in the Antiques Trade Gazette.

"The items stolen are not necessarily in the best condition and therefore of limited value for resale," Ms Alison Harvey, set decorator for the fifth season of The Crown, told the publication.

"However, they are valuable as pieces to the UK film industry."

South Yorkshire police said they had received a report of a theft in the late afternoon on Feb 16.

Three vehicles containing props had been "broken into" and "a number of items" were taken, they said.

"Officers investigated the incident, but all existing lines of inquiry have now been exhausted," the police said in a brief statement.

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