Looks like the failure of Revolver hasn't stopped stars getting aboard the Guy Ritchie bandwagon. His new crime caper has landed a principal cast, with the news that RocknRolla will star Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Chris Ludacris Bridges and Idris Elba.
Butler, who's so hot right now after the success of 300, will play One Two, described as a "street-smart mobster who has learned to play both sides of the fence". Newton is Stella, his love interest and an accountant with underworld ties, and Wilkinson the lethal head mobster Lenny Cole, trying to maintain his power against the encroachment of new foreign criminals. Idris Elba (The Reaping, 28 Weeks Later) is One Two's partner Mumbles, and Bridges will play Roman, an American trying to make it big in music. In London.
The story takes place when the Russian mob orchestrates a crooked land deal worth millions and every criminal in London tries to get in on the action - so very much a return to his roots for Ritchie, then, who's written the screenplay as well as directing. Filming started in London last week, so keep your eyes peeled if you're in the capital. Let's just keep fingers crossed that, despite the reunion of Newton and Bridges, this doesn't turn into a Crash-style noodle, or indeed, given Ritchie's role, a **Revolver-**style philosophy conundrum.