Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring

The first photos of the cast from Sofia Coppola's latest, The Bling Ring, have leaked. So what do we see? A chic and confident group of young people-- played by Taissa Farmiga, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Katie Chang, and Claire Alys Julien-- sauntering down a Beverly Hills street without a care in the world. These aren't regular rich kids, however. They're thieves who burglarized the homes of celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Orlando Bloom, among others.

Coppola's movie is based on a real case of affluent Southern California teens who routinely ransacked stars' mansions from 2008 until they were captured in 2009. Obsessed with fashion, celebrities, and reality television, the so-called gang was labeled by the media "the Burglar Bunch" and "the Bling Ring," and they became notorious celebrities themselves for a short moment.

The material is ripe for a sharp-toothed satire. Coppola knows the world of prosperity and privilege well and her previous movies have almost exclusively focused on wealthy characters and their milieu. But we'll have to wait and see if she's able to extract any real insight out of the story or simply indulges in surface pleasures. Stay tuned for more on this one.