Director Guy Ritchie grew up in London and started his film career
as a runner in 1993. He quickly progressed and by 1995 was directing
music promos for bands and commercials. A severe dyslexic and self confessed
movie buff; Ritchie had always been passionate about making films, having
been inspired after watching Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid as a
child. With the profits banked from directing music videos and commercials,
Ritchie invested them into writing and making a twenty-minute short
film, The Hard Case (1995), a prequel to Lock,
Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).
The Hard Case (1995) attracted the notice of Trudie Styler, who invested
in Ritchie’s next project and triggered a snowball effect of interest.
This led to Ritchie writing and ultimately directing his debut Lock,
Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), a highly stylised crime caper
set in London's End. With the film completed, Ritchie faced the difficult
prospect of getting the film distributed, and was turned down by ten
British film distributors. After attracting the attention and enthusiasm
of Tom Cruise, the film found a North American distributor before being
picked up in the United Kingdom. Made on a budget of just £1.6 million,
the film went on to become the third highest grossing in UK cinema history.
Ritchie followed this up with Snatch
(2000), another crime caper, this also did well taking a record £3m
in it’s first weekend.
Ritchie married singer Madonna in 2000, and directed her in Swept Away
(2002), a remake of Lina Wertmüller's 1974 Italian film, but the
film was a commercial and critical failure.
