Guy Ritchie To Direct RocknRolla

Guy Ritchie is out of the gates with a new project that looks extremely kick-ass. We get the news and following outline from Variety:

Joel Silver’s Dark Castle Entertainment has set a summer start date for “RocknRolla,” an action comedy that Guy Ritchie wrote and will direct. Production will begin in London in seven weeks.

Pic harks back to Ritchie’s early films “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch,” fast-paced dramas that had strong ensembles, attitude and low budgets. In “RocknRolla,” a Russian mobster orchestrates a crooked land deal, putting millions of dollars up for grabs and attracting all of London’s criminal underworld. A dangerous crime lord, a sexy accountant, a corrupt politician and a band of petty thieves are among those double-crossing one another. Pic’s budget will be under $20 million.

The russian mob is by far my favorite sliver screen crime orginization. The accent is so sinister and the cold disposition of russian gangsters is a chilling delight. Mob movies do not excite me that much, but in the hands of Ritchie they are cinematic magic.

I am glad to see Ritchie do a reasonably low budget high octane film. He is very talented and has a great style about him. I would like to see him do more films, but waiting to put out something of quality may not be a bad strategy either. Almost everyone is screaming that Madonna not be in this film, and I think it would be best for their marriage and his art if she was absent from this work. This project looks cool as hell and the title bleeds macho.