When Guy Ritchie’s cheeky crime drama The Gentlemen debuted on Netflix in March, it came in at #1 Global Top 10 for English-Language Series, garnering 1.2B minutes viewed in its first four days on the platform, according to Nielsen. That being said, will there be a Season 2?
“It wasn’t genuinely discussed,” star Theo James admitted today, in an appearance at Deadline’s Contenders TV. “I think it would be a wrangling process with all of us and Guy. But also, I think with a show like this, if you’re going to do more, you need to come up with a really interesting conceit for Season 2. Because as much as we enjoyed it and as fun as it was, it needs narrative drive.”
If an interesting idea is put forward, he said, then maybe another installment is in the cards. “But I think before that,” James added, “there needs to be discussions, as it were.”
For the DGA Theater panel moderated by Deadline’s Peter White, James was joined by co-stars Kaya Scodelario and Daniel Ings, who chimed in with their own considerations as regards a Season 2. “It’s always the story, the character, and then it’s what animal I would dress up as,” Ings joked, referencing the chicken suit his character Freddy wears in a memorable Season 1 moment. When asked what kind of animal he’d like to inhabit this time, he said, “Well, it was two legs last time, wasn’t it? So some sort of quadruped.”
For her part, Scodelario asked, “Can we be in the Caribbean, as well?” if the show is to return.
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Created by Guy Ritchie, The Gentlemen is a spin-off of his 2019 Miramax film of the same name. The show centers on Eddie Horniman (James), who has inherited his English aristocrat father’s sizable estate and becomes the new Duke of Halstead — only to discover that it’s sitting on top of the biggest weed farm in Europe, which is owned by the legendary Mickey Pearson. Subsequently, he must navigate a world of eclectic and dangerous characters with nefarious agendas, while trying to protect his home and stay alive.
Scodelario plays Susie Glass, the de facto head of the criminal syndicate with which Eddie becomes involved, with Ings as Eddie’s black sheep, drug addict brother, Freddy.
Others starring in the eight-part crime drama series include Vinnie Jones, Joely Richardson, Giancarlo Esposito, Peter Serafinowicz, Max Beesley, Harry Goodwins and Ruby Sear, to name a few. Ritchie directed the first two episodes and exec produced alongside Matthew Read, Marn Davies and Ivan Atkinson, as well as Marc Helwig for Miramax TV, and Will Gould and Frith Tiplady for Moonage Pictures. Hugh Warren produced the show, written by Read and Ritchie.
Check back Monday for the panel video.