Will Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie Team Up for Guys and Dolls Film?
In an interview with London’s Sun, Ritchie, who recently completed Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr., joked that he and Statham, his star in Revolver, Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, have been talking about doing a musical together that would be “a cross between Worzel Gummidge [a scarecrow character familiar to British children] and Bullitt.” Somehow the talk transferred to an update of Guys and Dolls.
The original film version of the classic musical was released in 1955 and starred Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson, Jean Simmons as Sarah Brown, Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit and original Broadway star Vivian Blaine as Adelaide. Guys and Dolls was seen on the London stage in 2005 in a revival that starred Ewan McGregor, Jenna Russell, Nathan Hodge and Jane Krakowski. According to the Sun, Ritchie took Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes, to see it. The current Broadway revival stars Craig Bierko, Kate Jennings Grant, Oliver Platt and Lauren Graham. For more on the history of various stage and screen versions of Guys and Dolls, click here.
If Ritchie is interested in checking out a possible co-star for Statham, he can buy tickets to the forthcoming Hollywood Bowl concert version of the show July 31-August 2 with Jessica Biel playing Sarah alongside Brian Stokes Mitchell, Scott Bakula and Ellen Greene.