Crime families clash in Guy Ritchie's starry new series 'MobLand'

By Hanna Rantala

LONDON (Reuters) - British filmmaker Guy Ritchie takes viewers back into the dark world of organised crime in "MobLand", his latest television series that features a stellar ensemble cast including Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren.

The 10-episode show follows two feuding London crime families, the Harrigans and the Stevensons. Hardy plays the Harrigans' well-connected fixer Harry Da Souza.

"I was interested in the traditional genre, so to speak, that it's gangsters in one family. I haven't done that before," director and executive producer Ritchie said at the show's global premiere in London on Thursday.

"MobLand" comes hot on the heels of Ritchie's hit 2024 Netflix series "The Gentlemen". Ritchie, who made his feature film debut with the 1998 crime comedy "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and went on to direct movies including "Snatch", "Sherlock Holmes" and "Aladdin", said he was enjoying the smaller screen work.

"I quite like that it goes on for a long time, to be fair. I quite like TV, so it's fun to oscillate between TV and film. I just think one informs the other," the 56-year-old said.

"MobLand" stars Brosnan as the Harrigan family head, crime boss Conrad, with Mirren playing his influence-wielding wife, Maeve.

Brosnan received the script from Ritchie last summer while he was working with Mirren on their upcoming movie "The Thursday Murder Club" and the two agreed to embark on the project. The experience marked a first for the 71-year-old, who said shooting on the series had only wrapped the day before the premiere.

"This is bonkers. I've never had something like this happen in life where you work for five months, finish and then the next night you're on the red carpet. But that's the way the world is going - fast," he said.

Brosnan, who previously starred in the series "The Son", said he was excited to return to TV.

"It keeps you on your feet. And if the writing's really good and you have people who know how to create an ensemble and create drama, then it's hard work, but it's exhilarating," he said.

The show also provided a brand-new experience for Muse frontman Matt Bellamy, who created its music with composer Ilan Eshkeri.

"I'm familiar with scoring, but this was different because of the sheer length of music involved," Bellamy said. "Normally a film would be 90 minutes or something, but this is like 10 hours."

"We were trying to combine this kind of gritty London gangster feel with the more privileged kind of luxury of the Harrigans. We were combining quite industrial electronic music with string quartet music," he added.

"MobLand", which is written by Ronan Bennett and Jez Butterworth, premieres on Paramount+ on March 30.

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala in London; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)