Guy Richie's 'The Gentlemen' Trailer Promises a Big Swing for Netflix

There was a time when Guy Richie was one of the hottest men in British filmmaking, and it wasn't just because he married Maddona. His debut feature,1998's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels launched the careers of Vinnie Jones and Jason Statham, inspired Jonathan Glazer's directorial debut Sexy Beast, and helped create the euro-crime caper as we know it today. His Sherlock films were instrumental in helping Robert Downey Jr. build on his career revival after the success of Iron Man, and his Man From U.N.C.L.E. a cult favorite. 

Naturally, Netflix locked him down to make a TV series version of his newest film when locking down film directors to make streaming series was the thing production studios were doing. Those were the halcyon days when Netflix's numbers only went up. However, four years later, the world is a different place, and though Netflix is still far ahead of its competition, and the marketing for The Gentlemen deeply slick, it's hard to imagine that the breakneck pace of a Richie crime caper can really be sustained over a multiple installment series that runs eight episodes.

However, the series has a stellar cast, starting with Sanditon favorite Theo James as Eddie, the eldest son who has just inherited the family estate from his late father... and that dear old dad made some questionable life choices to keep that property in the family.

Here’s the series’ logline: 

The Gentlemen sees Eddie Horniman unexpectedly inherit his father’s sizable country estate - only to discover it’s part of a clandestine cannabis empire. Moreover, many unsavory characters from Britain’s criminal underworld want a piece of the operation. Determined to extricate his family from their clutches, Eddie tries to play the gangsters at their own game. However, as he gets sucked into the world of criminality, he begins to find a taste for it.

James co-stars with Kaya Scodelario (The Pale Horse), Ray Winstone (the original Sexy Beast, who rose to fame making these sorts of films with Richie and Glazer), Daniel Ings (I Hate Suzie), Joely Richardson (Lady Chatterley’s Lover), Vinnie Jones (Galavant), Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul), Chanel Cresswell (This is England), Max Beesley (Hijack), Jasmine Blackborow (Marie Antoinette), Harry Goodwins (In His Hands: The Emergence), Dar Salim (The Covenant), Pearce Quigley (Detectorists), Peter Serafinowicz (The Tick), and newcomers Ruby Sear and Michael Vu.

Ritchie directs the first two episodes and executive produces alongside co-writer Matthew Read, plus Marn Davies, Ivan Atkinson, Marc Helwig for Miramax TV, and Will Gould and Frith Tiplady for Moonage Pictures. The series producer is Hugh Warren. 

The Gentlemen will premiere with all eight episodes on Netflix on Thursday, March 7, 2024.