We are days away from Guy Ritchie’s upcoming gangster series The Gentleman, a spin-off of his 2019 movie of the same name led by Theo James as an aristocrat turned the head of a criminal empire. From the looks of the series, it has all the signature elements of Ritchie and then some. The early reviews call the series even better than the original film which has excited the audience and fans of the genre further.
The series focuses on Eddie (James), an aristocrat who inherits his family estate only to discover that it’s home to an enormous cannabis empire. Now to protect his family Eddie tries to play the gangsters at their own game but the “deal comes back to haunt him,” says Ritchie in a new featurette released by IGN. The series expands on the original film with a slew of new characters and a new story. Speaking of the series, James explains that Ritchie kind of created that genre with Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels which is a mix “between comedy and drama and also a British-ness which is very Guy.”
Guy Ritchie’s ‘The Gentlemen’ Will Be as Funny as It Is Bloody
“The world of this TV show is inspired by the movie but the actual narrative is very different,” James explains. The Gentlemen is full of new intriguing characters which range from the ones most fiercely loyal to Eddie to the ones who only care about themselves. As Ritchie explains, it’s “aristocrats meeting the world of gangsters.” Adds Kaya Scodelario, who plays Susie Glass, “Guy grounds himself in British projects so much because that’s something we do uniquely well, that kind of sarcasm, that kind of dark dry humor.”
So fans should rest assured that the series will have some hilarious moments as well as Ritchie’s signature blood and action. “The ability to be able to extend storylines is tremendously liberating. Its whole delusional characters fit rather elegantly in this world,” says the director of extending The Gentlemen’s original world into a series. The Gentlemen also casts names like Giancarlo Esposito, Vinnie Jones, and Joely Richardson, among others. He adds, “It’s hard for people to appreciate just how different the English cultural system is but to fuse those two [aristocracy and the criminal underworld] together is where the fun lies. That’s what the show is really about, the evolution from Zoo to Jungle and have a hunt in the jungle and survive.”
The Gentlemen arrives on Netflix on March 7. You can check out the new sneak peek below and find out more about the series in our guide here.
The Gentlemen (from: @NetflixUK) inspired by and set in the same world as the original Guy Ritchie film, focuses on Eddie, an aristocrat who inherits his family estate only to discover that it's home to an enormous cannabis empire. Find out more: pic.twitter.com/Gdbk4U0v1D
— IGN (@IGN) February 29, 2024
via Collider