Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was Guy Ritchie’s explosive directorial debut, and it’s still considered to be one of the filmmaker’s best offerings. The 1998 picture was highly influential and inspired several other British gangster movies throughout the 2000s.
Soon after the release of the picture, Ritchie produced a Lock, Stock… series on Channel 4 in the UK. It only ran for seven episodes, though. It could be argued that now would be the perfect time to revisit the movie’s themes in the form of a series on streaming services.
Ritchie’s Film was Followed by a Series
After Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels was released, there was a lot of hype around the film and its themes. Ritchie tried to capitalize on that success by co-writing and producing a series with Ginger Productions and SKA Films. It didn’t get much exposure, though, and was later only available on DVD.
The series was a great idea, but it was clearly the wrong time. If it had been released in the Netflix era, it could have had a much greater chance of success. Back then, however, it was difficult to get it in front of mass audiences around the world. That’s highlighted by the fact that it was released much later in Portugal and Germany when it hit screens in 2005 and 2011 respectively.
Some Aspects Would Have to be Altered
It would be interesting to see if Lock, Stock could work in the modern age of entertainment. There are certainly many fans out there who would love to see a return of Ritchie’s unique brand of storytelling in his favorite genre. If the Englishman did decide to revisit his debut work, there would have to be a few changes to help modernize it and market it to global audiences.
One thing that would need adjusting is the constant use of cockney rhyming slang. This was a major criticism of the 2000 series, as many viewers couldn’t understand what was being said a lot of the time. If Ritchie chose to use a card game as the main plot point again, he may have to change it to suit today’s preferences.
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The original film features 3 card brag, which is one of the oldest card games in existence. It has basic rules that are easy to get the hang of, but it has been usurped by other card games in recent years. For example, Texas Hold’em is played all over the world now, so this may be a better option to include in a movie.
Ritchie would also have to try to find up-and-coming British actors as he managed to do with his first film. Jason Statham and Vinnie Jones both got their breaks in that picture, but they are probably too big now to be persuaded to return for a series.
The British gangster genre hasn’t been explored that much in the age of online streaming, so it would be great to see it make a return. The perfect way to do this would be with a reboot of Lock, Stock… for television. Ritchie is a major name in Hollywood now, however, so the chances of it happening seem slim.
Image Credit: Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash