Guy Ritchie
Encyclopedia
Guy Stuart Ritchie is an English screenwriter and film maker
who directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
, Snatch
, Revolver, RocknRolla
and Sherlock Holmes
.
, the second of two children born to Amber (née Parkinson) and Captain John Vivian Ritchie (b. 1928), former Seaforth Highlanders
serviceman and advertising executive. John Vivian's father, was Major Stewart Ritchie, who died in France, in 1940, during World War Two. John Ritchie's mother was Doris Margaretta McLaughlin (b. 1896), daughter of Vivian Guy McLaughlin (b. 1865) and Edith Martineau (b. 1866). Most of Guy's family on the McLaughlin and Martineau lines were appointed Reverends, Barons or Knighted
at some point. The peerage started with the Very Rev. Hubert McLaughlin (b. 1805), father of famous nurse Louisa McLaughlin
and ancestor of Patrick McLaughlin
who was the first in his direct family to be given the according title, as he was born into a blue collar
family and worked hard to find nobility. Ritchie's mother, Amber, would later go on to marry a baronet herself.
Ritchie, who is dyslexic
, was expelled from Stanbridge Earls School
, one of the most prominent institutions specialising in dyslexia in the UK, at the age of 15. He has stated that drug use was the reason for the expulsion; his father has said that it was because his son was caught "cutting class and entertaining a girl in his room." He also attended Sibford School
.
In addition to his elder sister, Tabitha, a dance instructor, Ritchie has a half-brother, Kevin Bayton, who was born to Amber Parkinson when she was a teenager and given up for adoption. From 1973 until 1980, when they divorced, Ritchie's mother was married to Sir Michael Leighton, 11th baronet. As a divorcée, she is correctly styled as Amber, Lady Leighton.
. In 1998, Ritchie and his dad contacted their friend Peter Morton
, of the Hard Rock Cafe
chain, wondering if he had any potential investors for a debut film, Morton knew his nephew Matthew Vaughn
had been studying film production in Los Angeles. Peter informed Vaughn of Ritchie's new film idea, and Vaughn knew he could help out with his own found production ideas, from his travels to America. Matthew, John, Guy and Peter all contacted their mutual acquaintance, Trudie Styler
, who they all knew had enough acting money to invest in the production of Ritchie's second film. Styler informed them all that she had previously seen The Hard Case, and saw that it would be a worthwhile opportunity to co-fund the project. After about eight months, the production of the film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
was successful, and it was released, in 1998 to a national audience, then later went global, after its well met reviews. He was introduced to Madonna
, when the soundtrack for the film was issued on her Maverick Records
label. The film, whose main actor was Jason Flemyng
, also introduced actors Jason Statham
(The Transporter
), Nick Moran
and Dexter Fletcher
to worldwide audiences, as well as introducing former footballer Vinnie Jones
to a new career as a film star. In 2000 Ritchie won an Edgar Award
from the Mystery Writers of America
for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. Ritchie created and produced a spin-off television series called Lock, Stock...
.
His second feature film was Snatch, released in the year 2000. Originally known as Diamonds, it was another caper comedy, this time backed by a major studio. The cast featured such Hollywood big names as Brad Pitt
, Benicio del Toro
and Dennis Farina
, along with the returning Vinnie Jones and Statham. Similar to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in featuring a complex and inventive storyline in which the characters weave in and out of each others' lives, the film also plays with time, depicting events from various perspectives. It currently has a rating of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Ritchie accompanied Madonna to the debuts of her film The Next Best Thing
and album Music
. Following his marriage to Madonna, Ritchie began focusing his filmmaking on his famous wife, directing her in both a music video (for the song "What It Feels Like for a Girl
", a controversial video that showed Madonna engaging in violent behaviour, ostensibly directed at men, including T-boning a car with three men in it, tasering and robbing a man at an ATM, scratching a police car and shooting two officers with a water gun, driving her car through a group of men playing street hockey and incinerating a man by throwing a lighter into a pool of gasoline) and a short film, Star, for the BMW films
series. Ritchie's next film, also featuring Madonna, was a remake of the 1974 Lina Wertmüller
hit Swept Away (also entitled Swept Away). Ritchie cast Madonna as a rich, rude, socialite who, after a shipwreck, is trapped on a deserted island with a slovenly Communist sailor who humiliates her. Ritchie renamed the woman Amber Leighton after his mother. This film was both a critical and commercial disappointment. He later accompanied Madonna to the debuts of her films Die Another Day
, I'm Going To Tell You A Secret
, Arthur and the Invisibles
, and I Am Because We Are
, as well as her West End play debut in Up for Grabs
. Madonna supported her husband by attending the debuts of Ritchie's films Snatch
, Revolver, and RocknRolla
.
Ritchie's next project was a Vegas-themed heist film entitled Revolver, which was critically panned in the US and UK. It was however an underground success in Germany, where it was released very late, as a straight-to-DVD release.
Ritchie was involved with a hidden camera show called Swag, for Channel Five
in the UK, which turned the table on criminals and opportunists by using stunts to trap them in the act.
Ritchie has also written and directed RocknRolla
starring Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
, Gerard Butler
, Tom Hardy
, Jeremy Piven
, Thandie Newton
, and Tom Wilkinson
. It scores 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and was generally received well. Ritchie intends to develop the film into a trilogy, with the next entry being "The Real RocknRolla," as is stated at the end of "RocknRolla."
Ritchie will also direct a film based on a comic book series he created with Virgin Comics entitled Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper
. The film rights were acquired by Warner Brothers in July 2007. The film's being produced by Silver Pictures
.
In 2008, Ritchie directed a commercial for Nike
called "Take It To The Next Level", about a young Dutch footballer who signs for Arsenal
, showing the progression of his career from his viewpoint, until he makes his debut for the Netherlands
. The commercial features cameo appearances from some football players with music by Eagles of Death Metal
.
Ritchie's latest movie, Sherlock Holmes
starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law
, made its theatrical release on 25 December 2009. The film received generally positive reviews and grossed more than $520 million worldwide, becoming Ritchie's most successful film financially. A sequel is presently being filmed.
home he shared with Madonna, causing actual bodily harm.
On 22 December 2000, Guy married the American pop singer and actress Madonna
at Skibo Castle
in Scotland
. They have a son, Rocco, born 11 August 2000 in Los Angeles, and adopted a Malawian baby boy named David. On 15 October 2008, British media reported that a split was "imminent" between Ritchie and Madonna. The split was confirmed by their spokesperson and Ritchie and Madonna went public with the split because they "can’t bear to live with the pretence any longer".
On 15 December 2008, it was announced by Madonna's spokeswoman that the singer had agreed to a divorce settlement with Ritchie, the terms of which grant him between £50million and £60million, a figure that includes the value of the couple's London pub and residence and Wiltshire estate in England.
Madonna and Guy Ritchie's marriage was dissolved by District Judge Reid by decree nisi
at the clinical Principal Registry of the Family Division in High Holborn, London. Madonna and Ritchie entered into a compromise agreement for Rocco and David, then aged eight and three respectively, and divided the children's time between Ritchie’s London home and Madonna’s in New York, where the two will be joined by her daughter Lourdes, from a previous relationship.
During his marriage to Madonna, Ritchie followed Kabbalah
and was a regular attendee of services at the Kabbalah Centre
in Los Angeles, which his former wife co-founded. He also adhered to the Kabbalah tradition of circumcision, undergoing the procedure which removed his foreskin
at Madonna's request. Although Ritchie is no longer affiliated with Kabbalah his children are still raised according to the teachings.
Ritchie was the inspiration for, and is the subject of, singer Robbie Williams
' single She's Madonna
from his 2006 album Rudebox
.
Ritchie started training in Shotokan karate
at the age of seven at the Budokwai
in London, where he later achieved a black belt in judo
. He also has a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
. Ritchie is a fan of the English football team Chelsea
.
In February 2011 a £6m house he owns in London's Fitzrovia
was occupied briefly by members of The Really Free School.
His girlfriend, Jacqui Ainsley
, gave birth to their first child, a boy, in September 2011.
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
who directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a 1998 British crime film directed and written by Guy Ritchie. The story is a heist film involving a self-confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of three card brag...
, Snatch
Snatch (film)
Snatch is a 2000 crime film written and directed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast. Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish ...
, Revolver, RocknRolla
RocknRolla
RocknRolla is a 2008 British crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, and starring Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong, Toby Kebbell, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Karel Roden, and Thandie Newton...
and Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)
Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action-mystery film based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon...
.
Early life
Ritchie was born in Hatfield, HertfordshireHatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It has a population of 29,616, and is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town...
, the second of two children born to Amber (née Parkinson) and Captain John Vivian Ritchie (b. 1928), former Seaforth Highlanders
Seaforth Highlanders
The Seaforth Highlanders was a historic regiment of the British Army associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The Seaforth Highlanders have varied in size from two battalions to seventeen battalions during the Great War...
serviceman and advertising executive. John Vivian's father, was Major Stewart Ritchie, who died in France, in 1940, during World War Two. John Ritchie's mother was Doris Margaretta McLaughlin (b. 1896), daughter of Vivian Guy McLaughlin (b. 1865) and Edith Martineau (b. 1866). Most of Guy's family on the McLaughlin and Martineau lines were appointed Reverends, Barons or Knighted
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
at some point. The peerage started with the Very Rev. Hubert McLaughlin (b. 1805), father of famous nurse Louisa McLaughlin
Louisa McLaughlin
Louisa Elisabeth McLaughlin was one of the first British women to serve as a nurse for the Red Cross. Louisa, who often spelled her name MacLaughlin and was familiarly called Louise, is pictured wearing medals awarded by both the French and Germans for running ambulances during the...
and ancestor of Patrick McLaughlin
Patrick McLaughlin (churchman)
Patrick McLaughlin was an Anglican priest and Christian thinker who resigned the priesthood of the Church of England in 1962 and became a Roman Catholic. While he was a priest, he was known as Father Patrick McLaughlin...
who was the first in his direct family to be given the according title, as he was born into a blue collar
Blue collar
Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...
family and worked hard to find nobility. Ritchie's mother, Amber, would later go on to marry a baronet herself.
Ritchie, who is dyslexic
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
, was expelled from Stanbridge Earls School
Stanbridge Earls
Stanbridge Earls School, near Romsey, Hampshire is an independent public school for boys and girls aged 10–19....
, one of the most prominent institutions specialising in dyslexia in the UK, at the age of 15. He has stated that drug use was the reason for the expulsion; his father has said that it was because his son was caught "cutting class and entertaining a girl in his room." He also attended Sibford School
Sibford School
Sibford School is a British co-educational independent school in Sibford Ferris, west of Banbury in Oxfordshire, linked with the Religious Society of Friends. The school has both day and boarding pupils between the ages of 3 and 18.-Overview:...
.
In addition to his elder sister, Tabitha, a dance instructor, Ritchie has a half-brother, Kevin Bayton, who was born to Amber Parkinson when she was a teenager and given up for adoption. From 1973 until 1980, when they divorced, Ritchie's mother was married to Sir Michael Leighton, 11th baronet. As a divorcée, she is correctly styled as Amber, Lady Leighton.
Directing career
Ritchie directed a 20-minute short film in 1995 entitled The Hard CaseThe Hard Case
The Hard Case is a 1995 short film directed and written by Guy Ritchie and featured Wale Ojo as the gambler. A twenty-minute film, it precedes Ritchie's better known Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels....
. In 1998, Ritchie and his dad contacted their friend Peter Morton
Peter Morton
Peter Morton was the co-founder with Isaac Tigrett of the Hard Rock Café, a chain of casual dining restaurants. His father is Arnie Morton, founder of Morton's, and his son is Harry Morton, founder of Pink Taco restaurants...
, of the Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
chain, wondering if he had any potential investors for a debut film, Morton knew his nephew Matthew Vaughn
Matthew Vaughn
Matthew Vaughn is an English film producer and director known for producing such films as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch and directing the films Layer Cake , Stardust and Kick-Ass...
had been studying film production in Los Angeles. Peter informed Vaughn of Ritchie's new film idea, and Vaughn knew he could help out with his own found production ideas, from his travels to America. Matthew, John, Guy and Peter all contacted their mutual acquaintance, Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler is an English actress and producer. She is the second wife of the musician Sting.-Life and career:Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. She attended North Bromsgrove High School, where one of her teachers was Clifford T. Ward...
, who they all knew had enough acting money to invest in the production of Ritchie's second film. Styler informed them all that she had previously seen The Hard Case, and saw that it would be a worthwhile opportunity to co-fund the project. After about eight months, the production of the film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a 1998 British crime film directed and written by Guy Ritchie. The story is a heist film involving a self-confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of three card brag...
was successful, and it was released, in 1998 to a national audience, then later went global, after its well met reviews. He was introduced to Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, when the soundtrack for the film was issued on her Maverick Records
Maverick Records
Maverick Recording Company is an American record label owned and operated by Warner Music Group, and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...
label. The film, whose main actor was Jason Flemyng
Jason Flemyng
Jason Iain Flemyng is an English actor. He is known for his film work, which has included roles in British films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch , both for Guy Ritchie, as well as Hollywood productions such as Rob Roy along with the Alan Moore comic book adaptations From...
, also introduced actors Jason Statham
Jason Statham
Jason Statham born 12 September1967) is an English actor and former diver, known for his roles in the Guy Ritchie crime films Revolver, Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels...
(The Transporter
The Transporter
The Transporter is a 2002 French action film directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen and written by Luc Besson, who was inspired by BMW Films' The Hire series....
), Nick Moran
Nick Moran
Nicholas James "Nick" Moran is an English actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Eddy the card shark in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels...
and Dexter Fletcher
Dexter Fletcher
Dexter Fletcher is an English actor. He is best known for his role in Guy Ritchie film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as well as television roles in such shows as the dramedy Hotel Babylon, the critically acclaimed HBO series Band of Brothers and earlier in his career, the children's show...
to worldwide audiences, as well as introducing former footballer Vinnie Jones
Vinnie Jones
Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones is an English film actor and retired Welsh footballer.Born in Hertfordshire, England, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent. He also previously played for Chelsea and Leeds United. As a member of the...
to a new career as a film star. In 2000 Ritchie won an Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
from the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. Ritchie created and produced a spin-off television series called Lock, Stock...
Lock, Stock...
Lock, Stock... was a 2000 television series off-shoot from the 1998 film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The series was shown on Channel 4 and starred Ralph Brown, Daniel Caltagirone, Del Synnott, Scott Maslen and Shaun Parkes. Lock, Stock... was Ginger Productions' first commission...
.
His second feature film was Snatch, released in the year 2000. Originally known as Diamonds, it was another caper comedy, this time backed by a major studio. The cast featured such Hollywood big names as Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, Benicio del Toro
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
and Dennis Farina
Dennis Farina
Dennis Farina is an American actor of film and television and former Chicago police officer. He is a character actor, often typecast as a mobster or police officer. His most known film roles are those of mobster Jimmy Serrano in the comedy Midnight Run and Ray "Bones" Barboni in Get Shorty...
, along with the returning Vinnie Jones and Statham. Similar to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in featuring a complex and inventive storyline in which the characters weave in and out of each others' lives, the film also plays with time, depicting events from various perspectives. It currently has a rating of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Ritchie accompanied Madonna to the debuts of her film The Next Best Thing
The Next Best Thing
The Next Best Thing is a soundtrack album released by Maverick Records on February 21, 2000. It was released to accompany and promote the 2000 film, The Next Best Thing. It reached number 34 on the US Billboard 200 album chart....
and album Music
Music (Madonna album)
Music is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on September 19, 2000 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records...
. Following his marriage to Madonna, Ritchie began focusing his filmmaking on his famous wife, directing her in both a music video (for the song "What It Feels Like for a Girl
What It Feels Like for a Girl
"What It Feels Like for a Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was the third and final single released from her eighth studio album Music on April 17, 2001 by Maverick Records. The video mix of the song is a trance song, while the album version is a more demure pop and...
", a controversial video that showed Madonna engaging in violent behaviour, ostensibly directed at men, including T-boning a car with three men in it, tasering and robbing a man at an ATM, scratching a police car and shooting two officers with a water gun, driving her car through a group of men playing street hockey and incinerating a man by throwing a lighter into a pool of gasoline) and a short film, Star, for the BMW films
BMW films
The BMW film series, The Hire was a series of eight short films produced for the Internet in 2001 and 2002...
series. Ritchie's next film, also featuring Madonna, was a remake of the 1974 Lina Wertmüller
Lina Wertmüller
Lina Wertmüller is an Italian film writer and director of aristocratic Swiss descent. In 1976, she became the first woman ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing with the film Seven Beauties.-Biography:...
hit Swept Away (also entitled Swept Away). Ritchie cast Madonna as a rich, rude, socialite who, after a shipwreck, is trapped on a deserted island with a slovenly Communist sailor who humiliates her. Ritchie renamed the woman Amber Leighton after his mother. This film was both a critical and commercial disappointment. He later accompanied Madonna to the debuts of her films Die Another Day
Die Another Day
Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...
, I'm Going To Tell You A Secret
I'm Going to Tell You a Secret
I'm Going to Tell You a Secret is the title of an American documentary film that follows pop singer Madonna on her 2004 Re-Invention World Tour. It premiered on MTV on October 21, 2005 and was released commercially in a CD+DVD package on June 20, 2006 by Warner Bros. Records...
, Arthur and the Invisibles
Arthur and the Invisibles
Arthur and the Invisibles is a French/American part-animated, part-live action feature film adaptation of the 2002 children's book Arthur et les minimoys / Arthur and the Minimoys, and the 2003 sequel Arthur et la cité interdite /...
, and I Am Because We Are
I Am Because We Are
I Am Because We Are is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nathan Rissman and written, narrated, and produced by Madonna.The film premiered at the 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, on April 24, 2008 and at the 61st annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 21, 2008...
, as well as her West End play debut in Up for Grabs
Up for Grabs (play)
Up For Grabs is a play by Australian playwright David Williamson.Set in the booming international art market from 1990, which was fuelled by the dot com boom, it involves scenes of an alternate sexual nature...
. Madonna supported her husband by attending the debuts of Ritchie's films Snatch
Snatch (film)
Snatch is a 2000 crime film written and directed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast. Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish ...
, Revolver, and RocknRolla
RocknRolla
RocknRolla is a 2008 British crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, and starring Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong, Toby Kebbell, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Karel Roden, and Thandie Newton...
.
Ritchie's next project was a Vegas-themed heist film entitled Revolver, which was critically panned in the US and UK. It was however an underground success in Germany, where it was released very late, as a straight-to-DVD release.
Ritchie was involved with a hidden camera show called Swag, for Channel Five
Channel Five
Channel 5 is a television network that broadcasts in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1997, it was the fifth and final national terrestrial analogue network to launch. The station was branded as Five between 2002 and 2010...
in the UK, which turned the table on criminals and opportunists by using stunts to trap them in the act.
Ritchie has also written and directed RocknRolla
RocknRolla
RocknRolla is a 2008 British crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, and starring Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong, Toby Kebbell, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Karel Roden, and Thandie Newton...
starring Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
, Gerard Butler
Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies , which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in...
, Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy
Edward Thomas "Tom" Hardy is an English actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the 2008 British film Bronson, the character of Eames in Inception, and the villain Praetor Shinzon in Star Trek Nemesis...
, Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Samuel Piven is an American film producer and actor best known for his role as Ari Gold in the television series Entourage for which he has won three Emmy Awards as well as several other nominations for Best Supporting Actor....
, Thandie Newton
Thandie Newton
Thandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W....
, and Tom Wilkinson
Tom Wilkinson
Thomas Geoffrey "Tom" Wilkinson, OBE is a British actor. He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award for his roles in In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton...
. It scores 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and was generally received well. Ritchie intends to develop the film into a trilogy, with the next entry being "The Real RocknRolla," as is stated at the end of "RocknRolla."
Ritchie will also direct a film based on a comic book series he created with Virgin Comics entitled Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper
Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper
Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper is a comic book series from Virgin Comics and film director Guy Ritchie. Warner Brothers has acquired the rights to the series for Silver Pictures to produce and Ritchie to direct.- Credits :...
. The film rights were acquired by Warner Brothers in July 2007. The film's being produced by Silver Pictures
Silver Pictures
Silver Pictures is a film production company founded by Hollywood producer Joel Silver during 1985. All movies after Ricochet have been distributed by Warner Bros and its subsidiary New Line Cinema.-Films:-Television series:*Moonlight...
.
In 2008, Ritchie directed a commercial for Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
called "Take It To The Next Level", about a young Dutch footballer who signs for Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
, showing the progression of his career from his viewpoint, until he makes his debut for the Netherlands
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...
. The commercial features cameo appearances from some football players with music by Eagles of Death Metal
Eagles of Death Metal
Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998 by Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme. Despite their band name, Eagles of Death Metal are not a death metal band. Hughes stated that a friend was introducing Josh Homme to the death metal genre...
.
Ritchie's latest movie, Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)
Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action-mystery film based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon...
starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
, made its theatrical release on 25 December 2009. The film received generally positive reviews and grossed more than $520 million worldwide, becoming Ritchie's most successful film financially. A sequel is presently being filmed.
Personal life
On 18 May 2000, Ritchie was arrested by the police after he assaulted a 20-year-old man outside the KensingtonKensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
home he shared with Madonna, causing actual bodily harm.
On 22 December 2000, Guy married the American pop singer and actress Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
at Skibo Castle
Skibo Castle
Skibo Castle is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although the castle dates back to the 12th century, the present structure is largely of the 19th century, and early 20th century, when it was the home of industrialist...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. They have a son, Rocco, born 11 August 2000 in Los Angeles, and adopted a Malawian baby boy named David. On 15 October 2008, British media reported that a split was "imminent" between Ritchie and Madonna. The split was confirmed by their spokesperson and Ritchie and Madonna went public with the split because they "can’t bear to live with the pretence any longer".
On 15 December 2008, it was announced by Madonna's spokeswoman that the singer had agreed to a divorce settlement with Ritchie, the terms of which grant him between £50million and £60million, a figure that includes the value of the couple's London pub and residence and Wiltshire estate in England.
Madonna and Guy Ritchie's marriage was dissolved by District Judge Reid by decree nisi
Decree nisi
A decree nisi is a court order that does not have any force until such time that a particular condition is met, such as a subsequent petition to the court or the passage of a specified period of time....
at the clinical Principal Registry of the Family Division in High Holborn, London. Madonna and Ritchie entered into a compromise agreement for Rocco and David, then aged eight and three respectively, and divided the children's time between Ritchie’s London home and Madonna’s in New York, where the two will be joined by her daughter Lourdes, from a previous relationship.
During his marriage to Madonna, Ritchie followed Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
and was a regular attendee of services at the Kabbalah Centre
Kabbalah Centre
The Kabbalah Centre is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that provides courses online and through its local centres and study groups. The Kabbalah Centre teaches principles of Kabbalah...
in Los Angeles, which his former wife co-founded. He also adhered to the Kabbalah tradition of circumcision, undergoing the procedure which removed his foreskin
Foreskin
In male human anatomy, the foreskin is a generally retractable double-layered fold of skin and mucous membrane that covers the glans penis and protects the urinary meatus when the penis is not erect...
at Madonna's request. Although Ritchie is no longer affiliated with Kabbalah his children are still raised according to the teachings.
Ritchie was the inspiration for, and is the subject of, singer Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
' single She's Madonna
She's Madonna
"She's Madonna" is the third and final international single released from Robbie Williams's seventh studio album Rudebox. A collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys, it is a love song to pop star Madonna and was released on 5 March 2007. A promotional copy was released to European radio in late January...
from his 2006 album Rudebox
Rudebox
Rudebox is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released on 23 October 2006 in the United Kingdom.-Background:...
.
Ritchie started training in Shotokan karate
Shotokan
is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi and his son Gigo Funakoshi . Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including...
at the age of seven at the Budokwai
Budokwai
is the oldest Japanese martial arts club in Europe. It was founded in 1918 by Gunji Koizumi and initially offered tuition in jujutsu, kendo, and other Japanese arts. It was the first Judo club in Europe with membership open to the general public.-History:...
in London, where he later achieved a black belt in judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
. He also has a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...
. Ritchie is a fan of the English football team Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
.
In February 2011 a £6m house he owns in London's Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia is a neighbourhood in central London, near London's West End lying partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the City of Westminster ; and situated between Marylebone and Bloomsbury and north of Soho. It is characterised by its mixed-use of residential, business, retail,...
was occupied briefly by members of The Really Free School.
His girlfriend, Jacqui Ainsley
Jacqui Ainsley
Jacqui Ainsley is an English model from Southend in Essex, signed to the Premier Model Management agency in London.-Career:Ainsley was discovered by a Premier model scout in Oxford Street in 2002 while shopping...
, gave birth to their first child, a boy, in September 2011.
Full length
| Year | Film | Notes | Credited as | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a 1998 British crime film directed and written by Guy Ritchie. The story is a heist film involving a self-confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of three card brag... |
Feature film debut | Director | Writer Screenwriter Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:... |
|
| 2000 | Snatch Snatch (film) Snatch is a 2000 crime film written and directed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast. Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish ... |
Director | Writer Screenwriter Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:... |
||
| 2002 | Swept Away Swept Away (2002 film) Swept Away is a 2002 Franco-British romantic comedy film directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Madonna, Adriano Giannini, and Bruce Greenwood. It was released by Screen Gems and produced by Matthew Vaughn. It received generally negative reviews from critics and was a box office failure.-Plot:Amber... |
With Madonna Madonna (entertainer) Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983... |
Director | Writer Screenwriter Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:... |
|
| 2005 | Revolver | Director | Screenwriter | ||
| 2008 | RocknRolla RocknRolla RocknRolla is a 2008 British crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, and starring Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong, Toby Kebbell, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Karel Roden, and Thandie Newton... |
Director | Producer | Writer Screenwriter Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:... |
|
| 2009 | Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes (2009 film) Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action-mystery film based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon... |
Director | |||
| 2011 | Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is an upcoming 2011 British-American action mystery film directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey, and Dan Lin. It is a sequel to the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur... |
Director | |||
| 2013/14 | The Real RocknRolla | Director | Producer | Writer Screenwriter Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:... |
|
Short films
| Year | Film | Notes | Credited as | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | The Hard Case The Hard Case The Hard Case is a 1995 short film directed and written by Guy Ritchie and featured Wale Ojo as the gambler. A twenty-minute film, it precedes Ritchie's better known Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.... |
20 min short film | Director | Screenwriter |
| 2001 | The Hire: Star | BMW Short Film Commercial | Director | |
| 2007 | Suspect | Television | Director | |