Netflix Surprises Fans With New Crime Thriller Series From Iconic Director
Netflix dropped a pleasant surprise on fans with a teaser trailer and release date for Guy Ritchie’s upcoming TV series The Gentlemen. Based on Ritchie’s 2019 film of the same name, the series follows Theo James as Eddie Halstead, who inherits a large estate from his father. The only problem is that the land also happens to be part of a massive cannabis-growing empire.
Along with Theo James, The Gentlemen has a stacked cast that includes Ray Winstone, Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Joely Richardson, Vinnie Jones, Giancarlo Esposito, Chanel Cresswell, Michael Vu, Max Beesley, Jasmine Blackborow, Harry Goodwins, Dar Salim, Pearce Quigley, Ruby Sear, and Peter Serafinowicz. The description for the series also says that the land James’ character inherits is part of Mickey Pearson’s empire, who was played by Matthew McConaughey in the film version. Hopefully, that means we’ll be getting a guest appearance from McConaughey at some point in the show.
The Gentlemen film was released back in 2019 and was written, directed, and produced by Guy Ritchie from a story he developed with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies. Along with McConaughey, the film starred Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant. The film follows McConaughey’s Pearson as he decides to retire and sell his cannabis empire, leading to various criminals conspiring to take the empire through other means.
Judging by the fact that The Gentlemen TV series says that the estate is part of Pearson’s growing empire, that may be a hint that this is a prequel series to the film. With that in mind, perhaps there’s a chance that some of the other characters from the film version could also make surprise guest appearances. Of course, Ritchie and Netflix are likely going to keep that kind of thing close to the vest for now.
The Gentlemen film received mostly positive reviews and ended up grossing $115 million against a budget of $22 million, making it a pretty big financial success. It makes sense that a TV series was greenlit with numbers like those. Of course, Guy Ritchie doesn’t often return to the same characters, so you have to imagine the inspiration was there as well.
Guy Ritchie seems like he’ll have a heavy creative hand in The Gentlemen, as he is the creator, executive producer, and co-writer of the series. He also directed the first two episodes. It’ll be the first project we see from Ritchie in 2024, but he also has his next film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, on the 2024 release docket.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a spy film that Ritchie directed and co-wrote based on the 2014 book Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII by Damien Lewis. The film is based on the true story of the British World War II organization that Churchill organized to engage in black ops warfare against the Nazis. It stars Henry Cavill, Eiza Gonzalez, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, and Cary Elwes.
We’ll see The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare hit the big screen on April 19. Before then, you can stream The Gentlemen TV series in March. Stay tuned for more upcoming Netflix shows and films.
