Ritchie says new character is based on Doherty

One of the characters in Guy Ritchie's new film RocknRolla is based on Pete Doherty, the director has claimed.

Dead Man's Shoes actor Toby Kebbel stars as a shambolic musician who is hiding out in a crack den and stumbles across a valuable stolen painting.

This being a Ritchie film, he then finds himself embroiled in a battle between the geezerish characters of London's criminal underworld and the Russian mob.

The Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels director told Empire magazine that Doherty "was everywhere" when he was writing the new film.

"It's either genius marketing or a happy - or unhappy – accident," he said.

He added: "I think what we all like is someone who fell and then stood up again. And that's probably the story with Pete Doherty.

The movie, which Ritchie describes as "old school gangsters getting pushed out by the new school", is scheduled for release on September 5th.

Titles related to this article

Related/similar articles

• Dead men and zombies up for awards (27 October 2004)
• Dead Man's Shoes scoops British Film Festival award (10 October 2004)
• Cannes Blog: 2 (21 May 2007)
• Mistry pays homage to Ibiza club scene in new documentary (23 June 2009)
• Butler's criminal battery case delayed (4 July 2009)
• Murray to get passionate with Fox (16 January 2010)