Clearly the original plan for the upcoming movie revamp of ‘The Sweeney' has been folied as Vivid Studios have announced that pop star Ben Drew (aka Plan B) has signed up to play the iconic George Carter (see below). He joins fellow Brit Ray Winstone who will star as Jack Regan in the reboot.
The reception to the news that the underground-rapper-come-global-pop-star (and now movie star) is to step into Dennis Waterman's shoes has been decidedly mixed. It must surely be a shock choice for movie hard-man Danny Dyer as he was initially pencilled in for the role when a movie remake was first on the cards (Plan A).
Fans of the 1970s show have split opinions. One half are over the moon to see it revitalised and brought back to their screens, while the other are mortified that such an iconic cop show is likely to be savaged into a half-baked ‘Starsky and Hutch'-esque misfire. Although based on the original ITV cult classic TV show, ‘The Sweeney' will be a modernisation of the London Flying Squad, which is sure to ruffle a few feathers in the die-hard fan club.
With a huge amount of movie muscle behind the project in the form of director Nick Love and writer John Hodge (Trainspotting) it might just be done well - something to beat off the hordes of outraged fans.
Set in present day England, ‘The Sweeney' will be packed full of fast cars, action and wise cracks as it follows Flying Squad detectives Jack Regan, (originally played by John Thaw), George Carter and their team, as they work to keep the bad guys down.
"I'm very excited about Ben playing Carter - he brings an intelligence and sensitivity that is crucial for ‘The Sweeney'," said Director and co-writer Nick Love.
"Ben is also one of the most promising and multi-talented young performers around. For me, Ray (Winstone) and Ben are the ultimate casting for a character-driven action thriller set in London today."
The newly cast Ben Drew adds: "It's a dream come true for me to be in a film with Ray Winstone - who is one of my favourite British actors of all time - and I'm really excited about working with Nick Love in what I feel will be a challenging role for me to play."
Drew, from East London, is certainly no stranger to gritty films, having already starred alongside veteran actor Michael Caine in the hard-hitting Harry Brown.
Naa, I don't think so. One of the stars of the series was 70's London, I don't think it would work as well now, & of course it would have to be politically correct as well. It can have the same title, but it's never going to be the same thing.
Has Nick Love ever made a good film? His stuff always comes off as bad imitations of Guy Ritchie.
Thats a great line Buscemi.
Even more of an accurate put-down when you consider how shite Ritchie's films are in the first place. (I'll give him Sherlock, grudgingly, that one surprised me).
Equally Love's The Business was about his best effort - and that was - like all the Brit cartoon gangster films - very OTT and pants but had moments which just about rescued it.
This one looks like another of those films like Miami Vice - same in name only and that's where the similarity ends. Actually, the advert does have a TV action/drama "feel" about it, like Luther or Whitechapel. So if it tries to be a straightforward pilot film type with an edge about it, it might have more credibility than trying to be something it is never going to be - eg match the chemistry between Thaw and Waterman, imitate the quality of the original series etc etc.
British distributors Entertainment One have released a brand new trailer for director Nick Love's The Sweeney (2012), starring Ray Winstone Hayley Atwell, and Damian Lewis. The film is set to open in cinemas across the United Kingdom on September 12th.
Nick Love directs this big-screen modern-day revamp of the classic British 1970s television series. Ray Winstone and pop star Plan B (aka Ben Drew) star as Regan and Carter, the iconic cop duo played by John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in the original version. Car chases and shoot-outs abound as the two Metropolitan police detectives tackle the low-lifes of London.
Note: British distributors Network are set to release on Blu-ray The Sweeney - The Complete First Series on September 24th.
British distributors Entertainment One will release on Blu-ray director Nick Love's The Sweeney (2012), starring Ray Winstone Hayley Atwell, and Damian Lewis. The film will be available for purchase online and in shops across the United Kingdom on January 21.
Nick Love directs this big-screen modern-day revamp of the classic British 1970s television series. Ray Winstone and pop star Plan B (aka Ben Drew) star as Regan and Carter, the iconic cop duo played by John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in the original version. Car chases and shoot-outs abound as the two Metropolitan police detectives tackle the low-lifes of London.
Note: The Complete First Series of the classic TV show is available on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors NetworkDVD.
Updated: Extras detailed.
Special Features: Behind the scenes of The Sweeney Preparing The Sweeney Shooting the Trafalgar Square The new Reagan and Carter On the shooting range Animated storyboards: Trafalgar Square, The Caravan Park Audio Commentary with director Nick Love and producers Allan Niblo and Chris Simon
The Sweeney, a contemporary film version of the police drama that ran on England’s ITV from 1975 to ‘78, will open in theaters on this side of the Atlantic and be available via video on demand beginning March 1.
The Sweeney is the nickname of the Flying Squad, a division of the London police force that focuses on violent crime and armed robbery. The name comes from Cockney rhyming slang, with Sweeney Todd standing in for Flying Squad.
The Sweeney’s lustrous line-up of British stars includes tough guy Ray Winstone, Damian Lewis (fresh off winning a Golden Globe award for his acting in Homeland), Hayley Atwell, and Steven Mackintosh. Plan B singer Ben Drew also has a prominent role as the junior partner to Winstone’s senior police detective.
The criminal thriller, which includes a big shootout in London’s Trafalgar Square, opened in England last September. Although it scored a 65 percent favorable rating from critics on RottonTomatoes.com, movie reviewers at most of the major British papers were less than kind.
Reviewing the film in The Guardian, critic Peter Bradshaw wrote, “Ray Winstone is good casting as Regan, the old-school copper who isn’t fussed about playing by the rules, etc. … But the film is fantastically heavy-handed and humorless, and the police-procedural details are wildly implausible and wrong.”
Bradshaw was particularly vituperative about Drew’s acting style: “His look of intense, silent menace often makes him look like a six-year-old secretly urinating in a swimming pool.”
The original TV show starred John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as Detective Sergeant George Carter, his partner. The show connected with 1970s audiences enough to warrant two spin-off movies: Sweeney! (1977) and Sweeney 2 (1978).
It looks like this film opened & closed in the UK without anyone noticing. It's got that horrible desaturated look, & it looks like Ray Winstone is playing Ray Winstone. A very easy pass for me. The TV series was great, & it's repeated every day in the daytime, but with horrible DVNR'd to death old transfers. It needs a wet-gate HD scan from the 16mm original cut negatives & would then look great (but all that lot costs money!). I thought the films were disappointing, esp. the second one, as I remember it was all MI5/spy stuff, when it should have been the London underworld.
I saw this courtesy of the excellant Virgin Atlantic onboard entertainment on the 747 coming back from Vegas.
And you know what, I actually quite enjoyed it although the casting of Regan and Carter didn't work for me at all. There was also some fairly poor writing to get Regan disgraced and re-instated in a very short space of time.
But as an update of the superb 70s show it didnt totally fail the wayI expected it to. I'm happy shell out twenty quid for the blu ray.
Twenty quid? It's £15, & it'll be half that in a couple of months time.
It's in the Amazon UK two for £10 offer. I saw a bit of it when it was on the telly a couple of days ago, & every bit as god-awful as I'd thought it would be. As I posted earlier, the original TV series was brilliant.
I already have that for pre-order, but I'm looking forward to seeing it on the big screen. I would like to see the two 70s films released on Blue Ray.
I thought Sweeney 2 was terrific. Saw it (at our old happy hunting ground mate, the Embassey WGC) on a double bill with the Callan movie.
It had the classic moment that movies just dont have these days; all the Sweeney team gearing up to go into action, all delayed because George Carter say he just needs to ".... have a piss". The Star Trek away teams could learn a lot from that.
The Sweeney, a contemporary film version of the police drama that ran on England’s ITV from 1975 to ‘78, will open in theaters on this side of the Atlantic and be available via video on demand beginning March 1.
The Sweeney is the nickname of the Flying Squad, a division of the London police force that focuses on violent crime and armed robbery. The name comes from Cockney rhyming slang, with Sweeney Todd standing in for Flying Squad.
The Sweeney’s lustrous line-up of British stars includes tough guy Ray Winstone, Damian Lewis (fresh off winning a Golden Globe award for his acting in Homeland), Hayley Atwell, and Steven Mackintosh. Plan B singer Ben Drew also has a prominent role as the junior partner to Winstone’s senior police detective.
The criminal thriller, which includes a big shootout in London’s Trafalgar Square, opened in England last September. Although it scored a 65 percent favorable rating from critics on RottonTomatoes.com, movie reviewers at most of the major British papers were less than kind.
Reviewing the film in The Guardian, critic Peter Bradshaw wrote, “Ray Winstone is good casting as Regan, the old-school copper who isn’t fussed about playing by the rules, etc. … But the film is fantastically heavy-handed and humorless, and the police-procedural details are wildly implausible and wrong.”
Bradshaw was particularly vituperative about Drew’s acting style: “His look of intense, silent menace often makes him look like a six-year-old secretly urinating in a swimming pool.”
The original TV show starred John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as Detective Sergeant George Carter, his partner. The show connected with 1970s audiences enough to warrant two spin-off movies: Sweeney! (1977) and Sweeney 2 (1978).
Entertainment One will release a combo pack edition of director Nick Love's The Sweeney (2012), starring Ray Winstone Hayley Atwell, and Damian Lewis. The release will be available for purchase online and in stores across the nation on April 2.
