Thanks to this bizarro year, Guy Ritchie still technically has a top-10 highest grossing film of 2020 to his name. The Gentlemen, released back in January, remains the ninth highest grossing film of the year. It made $115.2 million worldwide on a $22 million budget, which would be solid in any year. Which might be why Ritchie is returning to the movie in a new form.
The director is on board to write and direct a TV series based on the hit crime comedy, which is in the works at Miramax’s TV division.
In the film, Matthew McConaughey stars as an American expat looking to sell the highly profitable marijuana empire he has grown in London, which brings all kinds of criminals out of the woodshed looking to move in on his turf. Colin Farrell, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding and Hugh Grant co-star in the film. However, don’t expect anyone from the movie to appear in the show.
The Gentlemen began as a pitch for a TV show anyway, so this brings it full circle. Miramax’s TV boss Marc Helwig reportedly has a mandate to mine the company’s film library for IP that can be adapted for the small screen, and this is one of his first steps.
This is just the latest film-to-TV adaptation as networks and streaming platforms seek content in an increasingly competitive TV world, and cashing in on IP with built-in audience is a popular tactic. Amazon has commissioned small-screen versions of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Lincoln Lawyer, and both The Mandalorian and bunch of MCU shows are the backbone of Disney+.
On top of that, Adam McKay is working with Bong Joon-ho on an HBO TV version of the most recent Best Picture Oscar winner, Parasite. Whether The Gentlemen is a memorable enough film to have a big impact is debatable, but Ritchie’s presence should get people tuning in.
#Peace.Love.TheGentlemen
