Summary

• RocknRolla 2, also known as The Real RocknRolla, was promised in the end credits of the 2008 film, but over a decade later, its release looks unlikely.
• A recent lawsuit claiming that Guy Ritchie used someone's life for the movie's script and that plot points were reused in The Gentleman has complicated matters surrounding the potential sequel.
• The original film had a great cast and a loyal fanbase, but with no official confirmation or release date for RocknRolla 2, it's unclear if it will ever happen, despite the lingering interest.

RocknRolla 2, AKA The Real RocknRolla, was promised in the end credits of the 2008 cult Guy Ritchie crime thriller. Over a decade has passed since, however, and the chances of the Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels director's unmade sequel getting a release date looking slimmer than ever. After a bit of a carreer slump in the 00s Guy Richie bounced back with 2008's RocknRolla The film featured a great cast, including Gerard Butler, Thandiwe Newton, Idris Elba, and Tom Hardy, and one of the slickest soundtracks of any Guy Richie movie.

RocknRolla 2 was teased at the end of RocknRolla, but the director instead went on to direct the 2009 Robert Downey Jr.-led Sherlock Holmes movie (and its sequel), as well as the Henry Cavill spy reboot The Man From U.N.C.L.E. However, thanks in part to the movie gaining a fresh following after being rediscovered by modern audiences on Netflix and other platforms, demand of RocknRolla 2 is perhaps even higher now than when the 2008 original released.

The Latest RocknRolla 2 News

While there's been no news regarding the release date of RocknRolla 2, the Guy Richie sequel has been discussed recently — though in a way that could cause issues for the director himself. In mid-2023 a lawsuit was filed against Guy Richie by Mickey de Hara. De Hara claimed that Guy Richie created a script based on his life for RocknRolla 2. Furthermore, (and this is the crux of the legal action), according to Mickey de Hara the 2019 Guy Richie movie The Gentleman used many plot points that were originally going to be in the RocknRolla sequel, and these story elements were taken from Mickey de Hara's own life.

Guy Richie has of course refuted the claims, and submitted a filing in August 2023 refuting all of Mickey de Hara's claims, from Richie hiring de Hara to write the RocknRolla sequel through to The Gentleman just being a reworked RocknRolla 2 (via Deadline). While there's ultimately no way of knowing if The Gentleman has any similarities to what the plot of RocknRolla 2 would have been, the fact they're possibly linked in some ways makes the lack of a RocknRolla sequel even more frustrating. The Gentleman is widely regarded as one of Guy Richie's better movies in recent years, and if RocknRolla 2 was based on similar ideas — even only in part — the second movie about Johnny Quid and the Wild Bunch would have been a worthwhile follow-up.

RocknRolla 2 Is Not Confirmed

Despite the promising words at the end of RocknRolla, RocknRolla 2 was never officially confirmed. While director Guy Ritchie teased that he has, in fact, made a script, the director became far too busy to create The Real RocknRolla or any of its other planned sequels. Since it has been over 15 years since the first film's release, it's unlikely that the unmade Guy Ritchie movie will see the light of day.

RocknRolla 2 Cast

RocknRolla featured an outstanding cast, and since its principal members were a part of the "Wild Bunch," then it's only natural to assume that they would return for The Real RocknRolla. The potentially star-studded RocknRolla 2 cast could feature the likes of Gerard Butler (300), Idris Elba (The Wire), Mark Strong (Shazam!), Tom Hardy (Venom), Toby Kebbell (Servant), Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges (Crash), Thandiwe Newton (The Pursuit of Happyness), and Tom Wilkinson (The Grand Budapest Hotel). Unfortunately, none of these prolific actors have spoken up about RocknRolla 2, so if a sequel were to ever happen it's unknown who from the Wild Bunch would reprise their roles.

RocknRolla 2 Story

Ever since RocknRolla ended with "Johnny, Archy and the Wild Bunch will be back in The Real RocknRolla," audiences have been practically begging for RocknRolla 2 to hit the big screen. The last update for the sequel to RocknRolla, unfortunately, came all the way back in 2011, over a decade ago. Whilst creator Guy Ritchie was doing the press rounds for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, he spoke with Movieline about where RocknRolla 2 was in the production process, and at the time, things seemed hopeful, with movie director Guy Ritchie stating the following:

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. 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.

However, this RocknRolla 2 story tease came in 2011. Given the amount of time that's passed since the release of RocknRolla, and the ever-busy schedules of original cast members Butler, Hardy, and Elba, it's unlikely The Real RocknRolla will come together at this point.

RocknRolla 2 Didn't Happen Because Of Guy Ritchie's Schedule

Due to Guy Ritchie following RocknRolla with the Sherlock Holmes movies and The Man From U.N.C.L.E, he became too busy to focus on The Real RocknRolla. The modest $30 million worldwide gross of the first movie probably played a role in RocknRolla 2 being put on the back burner too. However, since this hidden gem in Guy Ritchie's filmography crops up on a new streaming home periodically, fresh crops of audiences will be deceived by the RocknRolla credits sequel tease forever more.