Guy Ritchie ‘sued by writer’ who claims The Gentlemen copied scenes from his rejected script

Mickey De Hara has reportedly alleged that the movie is a ‘substantial’ reproduction of his screenplay

Guy Ritchie is reportedly being sued over his film The Gentlemen, with writer Mickey De Hara claiming that Ritchie copied scenes from a script he had submitted to the director.

The 2020 gangster movie follows a kingpin called Mickey (Matthew McConaughey), who tries to sell off his marijuana empire. Read The Independent’s one-star review here.

In a lawsuit, which was filed in the London High Court last month and has been seen by US entertainment publication Variety, De Hara claims that Ritchie commissioned him to write a sequel to the 2008 gangster film RockNRolla, based on De Hara’s “personal life experiences” – he was once convicted of possession of cocaine and cannabis “with intent to supply”, for which he faced jail time.

De Hara reportedly claims that, in 2018, after he had sent Ritchie his screenplay about a protagonist who runs a marijuana business, Ritchie told him “the time of the gangster movie was over” and intimated that the project would not be developed any further.

The Gentlemen came out two years later, and De Hara claims the film is a “substantial” reproduction of his script.

According to the lawsuit, The Gentlemen copies De Hara’s cast of characters and “unique aspects of the plot”.

De Hara reportedly claims that his screenplay featured a character called Coach who led a group of thugs nicknamed The Baby Squad. In Ritchie’s movie, a man called Coach (played by Colin Farrell) goes around with a gang of fighters called The Toddlers.

The writer claims that after the film’s release, he texted Ritchie pointing out how similar the two projects allegedly were, to which Ritchie replied: “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.”

Matthew McConaughey and Guy Ritchie speak onstage during the Special NY Screening of ‘The Gentlemen' (Getty Images for STXfilms)

De Hara denies that Ritchie made any attempt to contact him on the issue before the film came out.

Ritchie reportedly declined De Hara’s request for a writer credit on the movie, but did offer him a credit on another project that he wasn’t involved in.

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“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.”

De Hara has said he “has no intention of seeking credit for original work that was not created by him”. He is seeking more than $250,000 and “credit for his original work that has been used in The Gentlemen without his consent and without payment of the agreed remuneration”.

The writers on The Gentlemen are credited as Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies.

Ritchie is reportedly yet to file his defence to the lawsuit. The Independent has contacted representatives of Ritchie for comment.