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Guys and Dolls

No GUYS AND DOLLS Remake for Guy Ritchie, But for Hugh Jackman? Maybe.

by Nicole Pedersen Posted: July 15th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

Back in May we wrote up a rumor begun by the UK’s tabloid of record, The Sun. The rumor in question went something like this: Guy Ritchie was working on a remake of the classic musical “Guys and Dolls”. The “story” also threw Ritchie’s pal Jason Statham into the mix, claiming that the “Transporter” star was very interested in collaborating on a musical with Guy. Shockingly enough, The Sun story appears to be full of shit. A rep for the estate that holds the rights to the stage musical recently told Variety that no “Guys and Dolls” remake involving Guy Ritchie is in the works – a version starring Hugh Jackman, however? Maybe. More after the jump…

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Guy Ritchie And Jason Stathan Working On A GUYS AND DOLLS Movie?

by Nicole Pedersen Posted: May 27th, 2009 at 10:09 am

From the world of ‘WTF?’ news comes word that director Guy Ritchie is working on a big screen adaptation of the classic Broadway musical “Guys and Dolls”. According to the always completely reliable British tabloid The Sun, Ritchie is taking meetings in Hollywood with “top studio bosses” about his desire to write and direct a modern musical based on the tale of a gambling-guy who places a bet on the affections of an innocent girl – I mean doll.

According to the paper’s “source”, Ritchie has been keen on making a musical for awhile now and has even been “throwing ideas around” with Jason Statham for an original song-fest they would write together. “They joked it would be a cross between Worzel Gummidge and Bullitt,” said the source. I have no idea what a Worzel Gummidge is but, even with Jason Statham onboard, a singing “Bullitt” just seems plain wrong – on a lot of levels.

And if the idea of the man who made “Snatch” succumbing to “Mamma Mia!” syndrome seems just as wrong to you, know that Ritchie’s choice of material could have been worse. “Guys and Dolls” was originally adapted into a pretty cool feature film that starred Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. This is probably why the Sun’s story has that subtle whiff of believability about it. I can actually see Jason Statham playing Brando’s role of Sky Masterson… imagining him singing that part is a whole different issue.

Considering the source, this can only be termed a Ritchie-rumor for now. If it becomes clear that the British tabloids actually have the story right we will let you know.