After directing some of the biggest blockbusters from the last few years, including 2019’s Aladdin and two Sherlock Holmes film, BAFTA nominee Guy Ritchie may be preparing a rare visit to the small screen. More than two decades after writing for the Lock, Stock… TV series, Ritchie might be nearing a greenlight to adapt his own movie The Gentlemen into a Netflix show, Deadline reveals.

The pilot’s script is already done, and was written by Ritchie himself. The British filmmaker was also the one who penned the screenplay for the 2019 movie, based on a story by himself, Ivan Atkinson, and Marn Davies. In the original film, Matthew McConaughey played an American expat and criminal who decides to cash out from the business. However, as he managed to build a highly profitable marijuana empire in London, his decision prompts a series of threats, plots, schemes, bribery, and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him.

Should the negotiations from The Gentlemen TV series veer in a good direction and it ends up getting a greenlight by Netflix, Ritchie will executive produce the project and direct the first two episodes, which will set the tone and pace for the entire season in case another director picks up from episode three and forward.

Ironically, back before pandemic times The Gentlemen was originally pitched as a series but ended up becoming a movie. Now, if it moves forward, the story will get the best of both worlds, with a fanbase already established and more screen time to unravel its separate storylines and arcs.

The Gentlemen (the movie) features a star-studded cast that also includes Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, Hugh Grant, and Eddie Marsan. The action-comedy film was one of 2019’s box office surprises, having grossed over $115 million against a modest $22 million budget.

There is no word yet if any of the actors are attached to reprise their roles, but considering that TV series adapted from movies tend to be a reboot, it’s possible that the entire team gets recast. On the other hand, The Gentlemen is a relatively new movie that is still fresh on everyone’s mind, so a sequel series would not be a wild guess. The problem would be to get all of those incredibly busy actors in the same room once again.

Netflix and Miramax TV are yet to reveal further details from The Gentlemen TV series.

via Collider