Is '30 Minutes or Less' a true story? Find out if the bank robbery was real

Netflix recently released the American action comedy film, 30 Minutes or Less and fans of the film are overjoyed. Helmed by Ruben Fleischer, the film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari and Nick Swardson in lead roles. The 2011 film has a huge fan following as many fans on Twitter are joyous about the fact that it is now available on Netflix. Read on to find out, “Is 30 Minutes or Less a true story?”

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Is 30 Minutes or Less a true story?

The answer to this is, No, 30 Minutes Or Less is not based on a true story. However, the story does strike a resemblance to a bank robbery. A report in US Weekly reveals that on August 28, 2003, a pizza deliveryman named Brian Wells robbed a PNC Bank in Erie, Pennsylvania. He was wearing a metal collar bomb on the crime scene.

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He partially succeeded in robbing the bank as he walked out with $8,702 and a Dum Dum lollipop. However, as Wells got in his car and drove off, the police were at his tail 15 minutes later. The officers soon caught hold of him and handcuffed him. Wells then informed the police that he had been forced to do the robbery by a group of African-American men who had kidnapped him earlier that day and cuffed a bomb to his neck to ensure compliance.

Source: Still from 30 Minutes (Netflix)

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Unfortunately, within minutes, the bomb explodes, killing Wells right in front of the police and all the news reporters. The bomb squad arrived at the scene minutes later. According to Us Weekly, neither the filmmakers nor the stars of ’30 Minutes or Less’ were aware of the crime prior to their involvement in the film. However, the real-life case of Brian Wells has been covered in detail in the four-part Netflix documentary series, Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist. The documentary was released in 2018.

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30 minutes or less plot & cast

The 2011 comedy film revolves around two crooks planning a bank heist. But given that they don’t have enough guts to rob a bank themselves, they wind up abducting a pizza delivery driver and force him to commit the robbery. However, the tricky part is that they place a strict time limit for the bank robbery. This heist comedy stars Jesse Eisenberg as Nick Davis, Danny McBride as Dwayne "King Dwayne" Mikowski and Aziz Ansari as Chet Flanning (Douglas Subramaniam). Nick Swardson plays Travis Cord. The film also has Dilshad Vadsaria, Michael Peña, Bianca Kajlich and Fred Ward among other actors.