Guy Ritchie to direct Jason Statham again for a standalone project tied to 'Layer Cake'

Guy Ritchie is reuniting with his most frequent collaborator for the sixth time for another crime thriller. What's more interesting is that the film is connected to Layer Cake, starring Daniel Craig.

It's based on Viva La Madness, author J.J. Connelly's sequel to the original book, which was adapted as the 2004 film directed by Matthew Vaughn, the producer of Ritchie's early gangster classics such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.

However, this project will be reworked as a standalone material, not as a sequel/spin-off, according to Variety. The project was brought to Ritchie by Statham and Gangs of London producer Thomas Benski.

Layer Cake gave Daniel Craig one of his most popular roles, aside from Munich. Both films — the first featuring him as a drug dealer, the second as a Mossad agent — have significantly contributed to Craig fetching his breakthrough James Bond role in Casino Royale.

Layer Cake marked the directorial debut of Mathew Vaughn, who went on to become a hot property director with hits like Kick-Ass and the Kingsman film series under his belt.

Aside from Lock Stock and Snatch, Sthatham worked with Ritchie in Revolver, Wrath of Man, and Operation Fortune.

ALSO READ: 'MobLand' Season 1 review: A fast-paced, superbly performed gangster thriller and dysfunctional family drama rolled into one

Meanwhile, Ritchie, whose last feature was the heist-adventure Fountain of Youth, featuring John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, and Eiza Gonzalez, has in his upcoming lineup the action thriller In the Grey, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill, in addition to the Benedict Cumberbatch-fronted dark comedy Wife & Dog.

Ritchie is also in the middle of production of Season 2 of the Netflix series The Gentlemen, a spin-off of his 2019 film of the same name.  Most recently, he also served as an executive producer on Tom Hardy's gangster series MobLand, co-starring Pierce Brosnan and Helen Millen. Ritchie directed the pilot, too.

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