When "RockNRolla" arrived in 2008, in many ways, it was a last chance for director Guy Ritchie. He was coming off two disastrous pics, the Madonna vanity project "Swept Away" and the totally incomprehensible "Revolver" and while "RockNRolla" didn't exactly light up the box office (though, it should be noted it was rolled out in limited release), it announced that Ritchie still had the goods. Sure, it wasn't on par with "Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels" or "Snatch" but the energy, wit and verve many thought he had lost was very much in evidence. He followed that up with "Sherlock Holmes," and the rest as they say, is history.
Ever since "RockNRolla" came out, there has been sequel talk, with the film ending with a title card stating: "Johnny, Archy and the Wild Bunch will be back in The Real RocknRolla." And even on the DVD commentary for the film, Ritchie revealed that he had written a followup. Well, while out doing the rounds for "Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows," Ritchie spoke to Movieline and revealed that not only is a script done, there is a producer who is ready to pay him to make the damn thing, but he doesn't seem to be in any big hurry.
"You know, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it! I’ve written a script, I think it’s a great script, and Joel [Silver] wants to pay for me to do it. But up until now we haven’t had the time to do it," Ritchie said. "It’s sitting there and we’d all like to do it, it’s just a question of when we’re going to fit it in. So we’ll wait and see."
There are likely a ton of factors that need to be weighed, which not only includes rounding the cast back up but also seeing if it's even worth it for Ritchie to pursue. He's done that genre/kind of material before so we can't see a great creative need for him to go back to the well. Not to mention that Warner Bros. are currently in love with the guy, having been his home since "RockNRolla," and they want him to take on "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." which is a bit of a priority over there. But Ritchie will remain patient, and see how things play out after 'Shadows' opens.
"Everything changes once a film’s released. I just have to wait until this film is released before I can even predict what’s going to happen next," he says. So all this to say, the "RockNRolla" sequel is still looming out there, but when Ritchie will get to it, is anybody's guess.