Guy Ritchie is being sued for breach of contract for ‘The Gentleman’
Four years after it was released, director Guy Ritchie is being sued over his film The Gentleman. The movie debuted in late 2019 and starred Matthew McConaughey, Michelle Dockery, and Colin Farrell.
A lawsuit filed by writer Mickey DeHara claims that Ritchie commissioned him to write a sequel to the 2008 film RockNRolla. DeHara had previously worked with Ritchie on the film Snatch and was billed as associate producer on RockNRolla, with scenes that were loosely based on his life. After DeHara had pitched Ritchie the premise for the film, Ritchie had claimed that gangster movies were no longer in style and shut down any production.
DeHara claims that the story beats depicted in The Gentleman mirror that of the original sketches that he made, including a particular scene starring Farrell which is pulled verbatim from his original script. While DeHara pointed out the similarities to Ritchie after the fact, he shared the text messages that Ritchie sent him regarding giving him credit, which read (via Variety), “I’ll try, but what I can do is get you a credit on something in the future. Let me see what I can do. Honestly, we did try to get hold of you”.
After not being credited, DeHara’s lawsuit is designed to give him “credit for his original work that has been used in The Gentlemen without his consent and without payment of the agreed remuneration”. The estimated price for the damages is over $250,000, including a share of the film’s profits.
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