Is RocknRolla 2 Happening, Or Will Guy Ritchie Rolla On To Other Projects?
At the end of Guy Ritchie's 2008 gangster film "RocknRolla," a title card appeared on screen, promising that "Johnny, Archy and the Wild Bunch Will Be Back in The Real Rocknrolla." Whether this was meant as a stylistic flourish or a true promise of a sequel, it was a bold note to end on from a filmmaker known for his gutsy, in-your-face style filmmaking.
Yet well over a decade later, no sequel to "RocknRolla" has ever materialized. What happened, and could a sequel still be in the works? The answer to that question is complicated, and not just because several of the movie's stars — including Tom Hardy and Idris Elba — have become catastrophically famous in the intervening years. Though one cast member told an outlet the movies were planned as a trilogy, recent developments have made a "Rocknrolla" sequel seem a lot less likely. Here's everything we know:
Why hasn't a RocknRolla sequel happened yet?
Back in 2011, Ritchie told Movieline (via IndieWire) that he had a script ready for a "Rocknrolla" sequel but was waiting for the right time to make it happen. He also indicated that he'd been asked to do several other projects that were taking priority at the time, including "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," which was released in 2015. Still, years after that film's release, the sequel remained unmade, and the title dropped out of the news cycle until this year.
In April 2023, Variety reported that actor and writer Mickey De Hara, who appeared in the movie as Turbo and received an associate producer role, is suing Ritchie for breach of contract. De Hara's suit alleges that Ritchie's film "The Gentlemen" used portions of a "RocknRolla" sequel script De Hara penned without giving him credit or payment. According to the suit, Ritchie commissioned De Hara for a sequel script and the actor turned one into the director in 2018, who he says told him the movie was no longer in development.
Despite that, De Hara says substantial parts of his "RocknRolla" sequel script ended up in "The Gentleman," including particular characters and plot details and an entire scene. Variety shared text messages between the two after "The Gentleman" was released in 2020, in which Ritchie told De Hara his team had tried to reach out to him but it might be too late to get him a credit in the movie now. For his part, Ritchie filed a defense in August (per Variety) that claimed De Hara's involvement in the unproduced sequel was minimal (he estimates the actor contributed less than 5% of the script, while 33% would earn him a writing credit) but did admit he used the screenplay for inspiration when making "The Gentleman."
Everything the cast and crew has said about a RocknRolla sequel
Years before De Hara and Ritchie's public falling out, the director and the original film's cast were prolific about their hopes for a sequel or even a trilogy. "'RocknRolla' is one of three films and Guy's keen to get going on that straight away," Thandiwe Newton told MTV News way back in 2008, adding, "[The second and third films in the series] are going to be excellent. I can't wait."
When speaking with Movieline in 2011, Ritchie said, "You know, I've spent a lot of time thinking about it! I've written a script, I think it's a great script, and [producer Joel Silver] wants to pay for me to do it. But up until now we haven't had the time to do it." Silver stepped down from his role at Silver Pictures, which co-produced Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes" films, in 2019 (per Deadline). Still, Ritchie indicated the script was done back in 2011, saying, "It's sitting there and we'd all like to do it, it's just a question of when we're going to fit it in. So we'll wait and see."
The filmmaker's most recent statements about the movie paint a different picture. After De Hara's lawsuit alleged that Ritchie told him "the time of the gangster movie was over," Ritchie's defense filing stated that the director "believed that 'RocknRolla'-type gangster movies were not generally being made at that time, and as far as [he] was concerned, those who had tried had failed."
What could happen in The Real RocknRolla?
Unfortunately, the only potential plot details of "The Real RocknRolla" that are publicly available come from De Hara's lawsuit, and it's difficult to tell at this juncture how much of that script actually would've ended up used in a sequel. According to De Hara's filing, his script included a lead character who was the kingpin of a marijuana empire, and who was tasked with helping a wealthy man get his drug-addicted daughter out of trouble.
De Hara also says his script included a character named Coach who led a group of criminals called The Baby Squad. He alleges that one scene from "The Gentlemen" in which Coach fights some young people at a cafe and blinds them with vinegar came straight from his script, per Variety.
Other than these tidbits, it's tough to say what might have happened in a "RocknRolla" follow-up. The original film ended with a newly sober Johnny (Toby Kebbell), whose crime lord stepdad just got killed, declaring his intention to become a "real RocknRolla." It's possible the sequel could've centered on Johnny and his criminal exploits, while continuing the stories of various ensemble characters.
Who would the stars of The Real RocknRolla be?
If a "RocknRolla" sequel ever did happen, it would likely follow the characters who the first film's end title card promised would return in "The Real RocknRolla." Musician Johnny (Kebbell) and narrator Archy (Mark Strong) are both mentioned by name in the end title card, as is the criminal group called "The Wild Bunch," which included Gerard Butler's One-Two, Tom Hardy's Handsome Bob, and Idris Elba's Mumbles. Newton's accountant Stella also seemed set to appear, as the actress once told MTV News, "Well I managed to get away, but quite a lot of them died. [The sequel] will follow whoever's left."
Tom Wilkinson's old-school gangster Lenny definitely wouldn't be back, as he was quite literally sleeping with the fishes by that film's end. Karel Roden's billionaire mark Uri also likely didn't make it out of "RocknRolla" alive, though we all know anyone who doesn't die on screen could still be around. Unfortunately, though, the "RocknRolla" sequel doesn't seem to have ever made it to the casting stages, so unless Ritchie's legal troubles end amicably and the movie miraculously ends up made after all, we may never know who would've appeared in the unrealized follow-up.