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Excuse my tardiness for delivering breaking Jason Statham news a day late but it is what it is. As I seek to rectify this mistake post haste, I can tell you that The Stath is once again teaming with prolific filmmaker Guy Ritchie for the film Viba La Madness which stems from J.J. Connolly’s novel which is a sequel to the groundbreaking thriller Layer Cake.
As of this writing, there is no plot details to be had but with the action star and filmmaker’s incredible track record together which includes Wrath of Man and Operation Fortune, the plot can virtually be anything, and I will show up day one. Statham initiated the execution on and will be producing Viva La Madness via his Punch Palace production banner along with Thomas Benski (Gangs of London). Production is said to begin in January of next year and Black Bear will be bringing the film to the AFM.
The darkly comic book “Viva La Madness,” following an anonymous London drug dealer known as X and filled with sex, scams, narcotics and dirty money, was originally published in 2011. The original “Layer Cake” movie – based on Connolly’s 2000 novel of the same name – marked the directorial debut of Matthew Vaughn, who produced Ritchie and Statham’s hit gangland breakout “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and its spiritual successor “Snatch.” Critically acclaimed for its cool style and fast-paced editing, “Layer Cake” was led by Daniel Craig, in a role that reportedly helped lead to his casting as James Bond in 2005, and also served as a breakout for Sienna Miller. Per Variety
Ritchie primarily gave Statham his initial start in Hollywood directing him min such now classics as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Ritchie got his start as well with the underworld crime genre and most recently returned to those roots with the film The Gentleman and the successful Paramount+ series MobLand. It will be nothing short of spectacular to see Ritchie and Statham do what they do best which should replicate the success they had all those years ago.
If you remember, a Layer Cake sequel which involved Ritchie and Statham has been in development for over a decade, and it was reported that Statham was set to play Daniel Craig’s role in Layer Cake. The sequel was also set to be a TV series as well at one time but that never materialized so it’s good to see that we will finally see it in feature length form.
