According to a report in the British daily The Sun, he has been "given the greenlight to embark on a casting mission to fill the roles of Sky Masterson and Nathan Detroit."
A source is quoted as saying that Ritchie has been "on the case with the idea of making a musical recently," and was originally throwing ideas around with Jason Statham (the actor featured in Ritchie's 1998 film "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels") about writing their own musical.
He has reportedly had a "lot of meetings with top studio bosses about other projects but the Guys and Dolls idea really tickled him. He is torn between keeping the script true to the original in New York and taking it to familiar surroundings in London."
The Sun also reported that Ritchie took ex-wife Madonna's daughter Lourdes to the last London revival of Guys and Dolls, when Ewan McGregor played Sky Masterson in the Donmar Warehouse production at the Piccadilly Theatre, "and they both loved it."
* As early as 2003 there were reports of movie moguls' interest in a new film version of Guys and Dolls. Liz Smith reported in 2003 that Miramax was interested in bringing Damon Runyon's mythical group of saints and sinners to the screen — in a modern setting rather than 1950s NYC. The new revival on Broadway sets the show in the 1930s, around the time when Runyon was writing the short stories that would inspire the musical.
Guys and Dolls features music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows that was based on Runyon's stories and characters. The classic score includes such tunes as "If I Were a Bell," "I've Never Been in Love Before," "My Time of Day," "I'll Know," "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat," "A Bushel and a Peck," "Luck Be a Lady" and the title tune.
The original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls opened at the 46th Street Theatre in Nov. 1950, running 1,200 performances before closing Nov. 28, 1953. Among the premiere cast were Robert Alda as Sky Masterson, Isabel Bigley as Sarah Brown, Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit and Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide. Blaine re-created her role for the 1955 film, which also starred Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson, Jean Simmons as Sarah Brown and Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit.
A hit Broadway revival was mounted at the Martin Beck Theatre in March 1992. Directed by Jerry Zaks, the Tony-winning production cast Peter Gallagher as Sky, Josie de Guzman as Sarah Brown, Nathan Lane as Nathan Detroit and Faith Prince as Miss Adelaide. Prince won a Tony for her performance in the musical, which ran 1,143 performances.
