Guy Ritchie sued for breach of contract over Matthew McConaughey-starrer The Gentlemen

Guy Ritchie, who is credited for penning, directingand producingThe Gentlemen, is being sued by actor and writer Mickey De Hara over the Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam and Michelle Dockery-starrer. The lawsuit was reportedly filed in the London High Court last month.

De Hara in the lawsuit says that Ritchie commissioned him to write a sequel to the 2008 gangster movie RockNRollabased on his"personal life experiences". However in 2018, after De Hara delivered the screenplay about a protagonist who runs a marijuana business, Ritchie allegedly told him that "the time of the gangster movie was over," intimating the project was no longer in development.

Two years later, Ritchie released The Gentlemen, in which McConaughey plays a gangster called Mickey who is trying to sell off his marijuana empire. De Hara now claims in the suit that the movie is a "substantial" reproduction of his screenplay.

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The film allegedly copies De Hara's cast of characters, their characterisation and "unique aspects of the plot" including a protagonist who runs a marijuana empire and an aristocrat with a drug-addicted child.

De Hara also claims in the lawsuit that ascenein which a character called Coach gets into a scuffle with some people in a cafe and squirts vinegar into their eyes was actually directly reproduced from his screenplay. His version also allegedly featured a character called Coach, who led a group of thugs nicknamed The Baby Squad.

The actor-writersays after The Gentlemen released in theatres in January 2020, he texted Ritchie to point out the similarities between the two projects, to which Ritchie allegedlyreplied,"Mickey, I and my people have tried to contact you for some years now. There was no response. I am happy for us to sit down and have a chat."

De Hara further stated that Ritchie never made any attempt to contact him regarding the project in advance of its release.

In April 2020, De Hara says he asked Ritchie to give him a writer credit on the film prior to its digital release but both Ritchie and one of his associates said it wouldn't be possible and instead offered to give him a writing credit on another project that he wasn't involved in.

"I have a feeling that might be too late Mickey," Ritchie texted, according to the legal filings. "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."

In the lawsuit, De Hara further says that he "has no intention of seeking credit for original work that was not created by him" and is instead seeking "credit for his original work that has been used in The Gentlemenwithout his consent and without payment of the agreed remuneration."

The writer is also seeking over $250,000, which includes a share of the film's profits.

De Hara first collaborated with Ritchie on the 2000 movie Snatch. He claims that he alsowrote the 2008 feature RockNRolla, which starred Gerard Butler, Thandiwe Newton, Idris Elba and Tom Hardy.However, on IMDb, Ritchie is credited as the sole writer of the movie while De Hara and Askew are credited as associate producers.

Ritchie is yet to file his defence to the lawsuit and comment on the same.

(With inputs from agencies)

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