Guy Ritchie

Guy Ritchie (also credited as Guy Stuart Ritchie) is an English director, producer, and screenwriter born on September 10, 1968, in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. He’s best known for high-energy crime storytelling—sharp dialogue, fast cutting, and interlocking plots—along with blockbuster reinventions such as the Sherlock Holmes films led by Robert Downey Jr.

Ritchie left school at 15 and entered the industry through entry-level film work before moving into television commercials. A short film, The Hard Case (1995), set the stage for his feature debut Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), which helped redefine modern British gangster cinema. He cemented his reputation with the critically and commercially successful Snatch (2000), and has also appeared on camera in related extras and documentaries, including Making 'Snatch'.

After the poorly received Swept Away (2002), starring Madonna—his spouse from 2000 to 2008—Ritchie continued experimenting with tone and scale in films like Revolver (2005) and RocknRolla (2008). He then scored major global hits with Sherlock Holmes (2009) and A Game of Shadows (2011), with the first earning Academy Award nominations.

Ritchie’s later work spans stylish action and mainstream spectacle, from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) to Disney’s live-action Aladdin (2019), which topped $1 billion worldwide. He returned to crime comedy with The Gentlemen (2019) and reteamed with Jason Statham on Wrath of Man (2021) and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023), followed by the well-reviewed The Covenant (2023).