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Before Matthew Vaughn was famous for Kingsman and X-Men movies, and before Daniel Craig was James Bond, the director and actor teamed up for 2004's crime thriller, Layer Cake, adapted by J. J. Connolly from his own novel. A vibrant and violent movie that never lets up with its cool style and quick editing, the movie was a critical hit and remains a favorite for fans of Craig.

Actor Jason Statham was certainly a fan, and ended up purchasing the rights to Connolly's second novel, which follows the same unnamed lead of Layer Cake. Statham had big plans to turn that book, Viva La Madness, into a 10-part limited TV series where he would take on the main role. According to Deadline, he bought the rights with producing partner Steve Chasman way back in November 2013. What happened?

Viva La Statham

Duckworth Overlook

Viva La Madness would've kicked off with Statham's...

The following contains major spoilers for Duchess, available digitally on August 9. It also contains discussion of violence.

Duchess will be immediately recognized -- and loved -- by fans of British gangster movies or 1970s action films. It is best described as a cross between the movie adaptation of J.J. Connolly's crime novel Layer Cake and the Gina Carano-led action pic Haywire. While it's a star-making vehicle for Charlotte Kirk, who is not only the lead actor but co-writer and producer, it's enjoyable for anyone who likes a bloody good time.

The picture settles on the title character, who graduates from small-time thief to something much bigger after a chance encounter in a nightclub. What follows does not reinvent the crime movie wheel. The film knows exactly what it needs to give the audience, who can largely guess what's coming. But thanks to an interesting cast and complete commitment to its larger-than-life vibe,...

Before Daniel Craig was James Bond, he starred in Layer Cake, a stylish crime drama directed by Matthew Vaughn and based on the novel of the same name by author J.J. Connolly. It’s not a film about a carefully crafted cake with multiple layers and delicious filling. Vaughn’s Layer Cake refers to the layers (or levels) anyone in business goes through while rising to the top of the food chain.

Craig plays an unnamed man in the film known as Xxxx, while Vaughn’s interpretation of the story differs from Connolly’s novel. In the book, Xxxx and his hired gunman wait in a park to kill the off-screen antagonist, Dargon. While in the garden, they shoot an American tourist, mistaking him for Dragon. Initially, the movie would have done the same, but Sony Pictures was uncomfortable with killing an American and asked for the scene to be changed.

Viva La Madness: We heard back in June that Jason Statham (above in Safe) would star in Viva La Madness, based on a book by J.J. Connolly, who wrote it as a followup to his novel Layer Cake, which itself served as the basis for a 2004 film starring Daniel Craig. Now it's been decided to adapt the book as a TV show rather than a movie, with plans to make at least 10 one-hour episodes. It will be the first television series for Statham, who will play a drug dealer who managed to retire early, but finds himself 'itching' to get back in the business. [Digital Spy]   The Last Witch Hunter Trailer: Vin Diesel stars in a new trailer for The Last Witch Hunter, which features a plethora of action as the titular character does battle againt history's most...

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A major Tarly family reunion is coming to Game of Thrones.

The HBO fantasy drama has cast three actors to play Samwell Tarly’s family in Season 6: James Faulkner (Da Vinci’s Demons) as Randyll, Samwell’s father; Samantha Spiro (From Hell) as his mother, Melessa; and Rebecca Benson (Macbeth) as his sister, Talla.

RelatedGame of Thrones: Stannis Lives!

As previously reported, UnREAL star Freddie Stroma will play Samwell’s brother, Dickon. Other Season 6 additions include Essie Davis (The Babadook), Richard E. Grant (Downton Abbey), Pilou Asbæk (The Borgias), Max von Sydow (The Tudors) and Ian McShane...

While no one has been particularly asking for it, Jason Statham has stuck by "Viva La Madness" through years in development. Based on author J.J. Connolly's book sequel to his own "Layer Cake," which was turned into the 2004 film that marked a breakthrough for director Matthew Vaughn and star Daniel Craig, the project has been kicking around for a while now, with Statham promising the movie would get made. Well, that's not happening, but the project is taking a different shape. Variety reports that Statham will star and executive produce a TV series based on the material, with Gaumont ("Hannibal," "Narcos") producing. The story will find the criminal protagonist idling in the Caribbean before returning to London to get back to the life he knows so well, teaming with a couple of gangsters to get back to work. “The way J.J. writes is so on the ball and authentic,...

The mighty Jason Statham's Viva La Madness project - a follow-up to the Layer Cake book - has moved to the telly realm...

Two things that have been happening more and more, recently: big movie stars moving to the small screen, and recognisable film titles filling the telly schedules (Minority Report, Limitless and many more).

This story has them both – the mighty Jason Statham will star in Viva La Madness, a TV sequel to Layer Cake. You may have already heard that The Stath was attached to a Viva La Madness project, and now we know that it will definitely be a TV show - not a film.

The show is based on a book, Viva La Madness by J.J. Connolly. This book was a sequel to the Layer Cake novel. It’s unclear whether the TV adaptation will be set within the same universe as the 2004 Layer Cake film starring Daniel Craig,...

Viva La Madness: We heard back in June that Jason Statham (above in Safe) would star in Viva La Madness, based on a book by J.J. Connolly, who wrote it as a follow-up to his novel Layer Cake, which itself served as the basis for a 2004 film starring Daniel Craig. Now it's been decided to adapt the book as a TV show rather than a movie, with plans to make at least 10 one-hour episodes. It will be the first television series for Statham, who will play a drug dealer who managed to retire early,...

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When last we heard about Viva La Madness, a follow-up to the 2005 cult crime thriller Layer Cake starring Daniel Craig, it was set to be a feature length movie starring Jason Statham. The action icon confirmed in an interview earlier this year that the movie was set to start shooting in 2016. That part was true. Except now, instead of a movie sequel, Viva La Madness has been reconfigured as an episodic TV crime drama. The good news is that it will still star Jason Statham. This may be the true reason he dropped out of Marvel's Daredevil Season 2 talks, which would have seen him playing the villain Bullseye.

Gaumont International Television is developing Viva La Madness as an hour-long TV show that will be directly based on J.J. Connolly's novel of the same name. The company is also behind the now canceled NBC horror-crime series Hannibal and the Netflix horror series Hemlock Grove,...

Following in the well-heeled footsteps of Anne Hathaway, Jason Statham is coming to TV with a project first, network second. The actor will executive-produce and star in an adaptation of Viva La Madness, a British gangster novel by J.J. Connolly — who also wrote the source material for Layer Cake, which was adapted for the big screen and fronted by Daniel Craig in 2004. Connolly is set to write the series, which is being produced by Gaumont International.The book follows our anonymous protagonist, who's stuck in the Caribbean because he's a wanted man back in the U.K. Eventually he gets back to his criminal ways with two other London gangsters. Gaumont CEO Katie O'Connell praised Statham's ability to bring "strength and credibility to his characters” as well as "an effortless shade of vulnerability." We totally agree.

"The Transporter" actor Jason Statham is set to star in the action comedy TV series "Via La Madness" for Gaumont International Television ("Hannibal," "Narcos").

Based on the book of the same name by J.J. Connolly, the story follows the same anonymous protagonist played by Daniel Craig in 2004's film adaptation of Connolly's "Layer Cake" novel.

The story centers on the man who is now stranded in the Caribbean itching for the criminal life he left behind. He soon joins forces with two robust London gangsters.

Connolly, Statham and Steven Chasman will executive produce with Connolly set to pen the series. A network is not yet attached.

Source: The Live Feed...

The action star has landed his first lead TV role on Gaumont International Television’s one-hour action-thriller series from writer J.J. Connolly.

Connolly will adapt Viva La Madness from his book of the same name and the story is a follow-up to his book Layer Cake, which was adapted into a 2004 feature starring Daniel Craig.

Statham and long-time manager and producer Steven Chasman own the rights to the project and will serve as executive producers alongside Connolly.

Viva la Madness centres on an anonymous man stranded in the Caribbean itching for the life of crime he left behind who joins forces with two London gangsters.

CEO Katie O’Connell Marsh of Los Angeles-based Gaumont International Television made the announcement.

“The way J.J. writes is so on the ball and authentic it’s hard to let any of it go,” said Statham. “Trying to lose characters or shave down scenes every other page didn’t work, we...

Aside from a few talk show appearances, Jason Statham’s screen career has largely been limited to the cinema. But he’s got plans to change all that, aiming to star in and produce a telly adaptation of J.J. Connolly’s book Viva La Madness.Connolly is best known for writing Layer Cake (the adaptation of which launched Matthew Vaughn’s directorial career), and this is the follow-up. The plot finds an anonymous hero stranded in the Caribbean thanks to his criminal activities back home in London. Looking for a way back into that life he knew, he joins forces with two London gangsters, Sonny King and Roy “Twitchy” Burns.“Viva La Madness, with its riveting characters and twisting storyline, is a volatile cocktail of action and comedy that only J.J. Connolly can create,” says Gaumont International TV CEO Katie O’Connell Marsh in a statement picked up by The Hollywood Reporter.

Furious 7 and Spy‘s Jason Statham is set to star in and co-executive produce Viva La Madness, an hourlong TV drama series based on the book by J.J. Connolly, from Gaumont International TV. A network is not yet attached. Viva La Madness is the next installment to Connolly's novel Layer Cake, which was turned into a movie starring Daniel Craig in 2004. Statham and Steven Chasman, who own the rights to the project, will executive produce, along with Connolly who is also set…...

Jason Statham is the latest movie star making the jump to the small screen. Gaumont International Television announced Thursday that the “Transporter” star will headline drama series “Viva La Madness,” based on the novel by J.J. Connolly. The drama does not yet have a distribution or network partner. Statham will play the anonymous hero of the story, who is stranded in the Caribbean itching for the criminal life he left behind — but he’s still a wanted man back home. Soon he joins forces with two robust London gangsters: the menacing Sonny King and his paranoid partner Roy “Twitchy” Burns.

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Birds of Prey

"Layer Cake" scribe J.J. Connolly has signed on to pen a TV series adaptation of Wilbur Smith's best-selling "Birds of Prey" adventure novels.

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Author and screenwriter J.J. Connolly (Layer Cake) has signed on to adapt Wilbur Smith's best-selling Birds of Prey adventure novels as a TV series for Corona Pictures and FremantleMedia International. The novels -- Birds of Prey, Monsoon and Blue Horizon -- are swashbuckling tales set in uncharted Africa in the 17th century. The series traces three generations of the Courtney family as they battle to secure their fortune in Africa, battling colonial empires, privateers, settled African nations and the African wilderness itself. Story: ABC Family Orders Three Drama Pilots Smith's adventure novels have previously been made into TV miniseries, including

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Author J.J. Connolly has written a follow-up to his novel Layer Cake, and as with that book, is adapting it into a screenplay. Jason Statham has snapped up the rights to the sequel, Viva La Madness, looking to produce the film as well as star in the same role that launched Daniel Craig into a life of Aston Martins and vodka martinis. While it seemed a lot like [spoiler alert] Layer Cake's nameless protagonist died in the end of that film, if anyone can shake that off and get back to causing mayhem, it's Jason Statham. So ...

2004′s “Layer Cake” was the movie that introduced the world to Matthew Vaughn, and really got people to notice some Brit name Daniel Craig. It was Vaughn’s first movie, and he would go on to direct “Kick-Ass” and “X-Men: First Class”. As for that Craig fellow, he did some obscure films about a British spy or some such. You’ve probably never seen it. “Layer Cake” was adapted from a book by J.J. Connolly by Connolly himself. The author is back with a sequel called “Viva La Madness”, and has also pounded out a script this time, too. Instead of Vaughn and Craig, though, the sequel will star Jason Statham, who snatched up rights to the film. In “Viva La Madness”, our favorite criminal is “looking for a beach to land on in retirement, but instead he gets involved with trans-Atlantic drug deals, money laundering, high-tech electronic fraud, London lowlifes and Venezuelan drug cartels.

Via: Deadline

Jason Statham has acquired the rights to J.J. Connolly's novel Viva La Madness, which is a sequel to the author's 2000 novel, Layer Cake. Statham will also take on the role of the main, nameless character, who was previously played by Daniel Craig in the 2004 film. Connolly will also write the script for the film, and here's the description of the story from the book,

"From the many levels of the London underworld portrayed in 'Layer Cake,' 'Viva la Madness' moves to international crime with trans-Atlantic drug deals, money laundering and high-tech electronic fraud, portrayed with the same uncanny believability. The anonymous hero of 'Layer Cake' is pulled back into the drug game before he can escape to a sunny retirement: in an authentic but dazzling combination of London low-life, Caribbean high-life and Venezuelan drug cartels toting machine-guns in Mayfair. The brilliance and the...

Arguably the role that launched Daniel Craig’s career, arriving two years before Casino Royale rebooted James Bond, the unnamed protagonist in Layer Cake is set to return to the screen with Jason Statham acquiring the rights to J.J. Connolly’s follow-up novel, Viva La Madness.

Deadline reports that Statham and his manager/producing partner Steve Chasman (The Transporter, Blitz) have bought the rights to Connolly’s novel, published back in 2011, with Connolly set to pen the script, as he did with Matthew Vaughn’s original Layer Cake adaptation.

The sequel arrived in print just over a decade after Layer Cake hit the shelves, and with Vaughn’s film hitting theatres in 2004, four years after the novel was published, let’s hope that it won’t be long before Viva La Madness hits screens.

Coming via Amazon, here’s the synopsis for the original novel:

The authentic voice of British gangster fiction,...

Get ready for a second helping of "Cake."

Jason Statham has just acquired the rights to "Viva La Madness," the 2012 sequel to "Layer Cake," a novel by British author J.J. Connolly that was turned into a movie in 2004. Statham would star as the same nameless hero played by Daniel Craig in the first film.

According to Deadline, "Madness" would pick up where "Layer Cake" left off, with the protagonist "looking for a beach to land on in retirement, but instead he gets involved with trans-Atlantic drug deals, money laundering, high-tech electronic fraud, London lowlifes and Venezuelan drug cartels."

Connolly, who adapted "Layer Cake" for the big screen, will do the same for "Viva La Madness." No word on whether "Layer Cake" director Matthew Vaughn will return. But one can dream.

[via Deadline]...

Based on J.J. Connolly's 2000 novel, Layer Cake marked not only the directorial debut of Matthew Vaughn, but is also seen as the movie that led to Daniel Craig, who took the lead as a character known only as Xxxx, being cast as James Bond. On top of all that, it is a fanatstic movie, and one of the best British crime movies of the last few years. Despite the ending seemingly making it impossible, the movies nameless protagonist will return in Viva La Madness. Craig, sadly, is not returning, being replaced here by Jason Statham. While he probably wouldn't be anyones first choice for the role, Statham has proven he can deliver great performances without resorting to kicking men through walls. The likes of The Bank Job, Snatch, and Hummingbird spring to mind, and I'm curious to see him in this role. Based on Connolly's 2011 sequel to his book,...

In today’s most improbable sequel news, it seems that a follow-up is on the way to British crime thriller Layer Cake, with Jason Statham set to take on the leading role. Deadline reports that Statham and producing partner Steve Chasman have purchased the rights to novelist J.J. Connolly’s Viva La Madness, a sequel to his original story brought to the big screen by Matthew Vaughn in 2004. The report also claims that Statham will take over the leading role of the unnamed narrator, last played by a pre-Bond Daniel Craig, as he branches...

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Remember the film Layer Cake? Of course you do, it was that excellent British crime thriller which helped to launch the careers of both Matthew Vaughn and Daniel Craig. Well, it seems as if a sequel is being put into production and Jason Statham is eyeing the lead role. Along with his producing partner Steve Chasman, the actor hopes to star in Viva La Madness, which is author J.J. Connolly’s follow-up to the aforementioned Layer Cake, which he also penned.

The film will follow the same nameless protagonists that Craig played in the first film. Finished with his life of crime, he looks to retire onto a beach but instead gets himself involved in ”trans-Atlantic drug deals, money laundering, high-tech electronic fraud, London lowlifes and Venezuelan drug cartels.”

You can check out the full synopsis below:

J. J. Connolly the favorite voice of London gangster fiction returns with a...

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I expect there would be no small uproar if it were ever announced that Jason Statham would replace Daniel Craig in the iconic role of superspy James Bond. But that probably isn.t the case with any of Craig.s other characters, and so it is with only a minimal amount of trepidation that we accept the news that Statham and his producer partner Steve Chasman acquired the rights to Viva La Madness, J.J. Connolly.s novelized sequel to his hit 2000 novel Layer Cake, which Matthew Vaughn turned into Layer Cake a feature in 2004, with Craig in the unnamed lead role. Does this mean Statham will be coming back to the quick-witted Brit crime capers that launched his career? Let.s hope so. Not to give away the ending to Layer Cake, but the protagonist bad guy wasn.t exactly in tip-top shape, and his future trials and tribulations ...

2004's Layer Cake was a breakthrough movie for Daniel Craig and director Matthew Vaughn. Now, almost a decade later, a sequel is in the works without them involved. Viva La Madness, which was published in 2012, continues the story of Layer Cake's unnamed protagonist, who now finds himself involved with Venezuelan drug cartels when looking for a beachy place to retire. Just as he did with Layer Cake, the book's author, J.J. Connolly, is writing the screenplay. And to replace Craig, Deadline reports Jason Statham has stepped up. It doesn't really matter if the character doesn't have a name, as basically all Jason Statham characters might as well just be named Jason Statham. ...

Jason Statham and his producing partner Steve Chasman have acquired the rights to J.J. Connolly's 2011 novel Viva la Madness!, a follow-up to his hit novel and adaptation Layer Cake. The actor will play the same nameless protagonist that Daniel Craig played in Layer Cake. Here's the novel's official description.

"From the many levels of the London underworld portrayed in Layer Cake, Viva La Madness! moves to international crime with trans-Atlantic drug deals, money laundering and high-tech electronic fraud, portrayed with the same uncanny believability. The anonymous hero of Layer Cake is pulled back into the drug game before he can escape to a sunny retirement: in an authentic but dazzling combination of London low-life, Caribbean high-life and Venezuelan drug cartels toting machine-guns in Mayfair. The brilliance and the madness is back: 'Viva la madness!'"

J.J. Connolly is writing the screenplay adaptation of his own novel, like he did with 2005's Layer Cake.

While Jason Statham has pushed more towards action in his film choices recently, he’s clearly still looking to nod back towards his Lock, Stock / Snatch days. Statham and producing partner Steve Chasman have snapped up the rights to J.J. Connolly’s novel Viva La Madness, the sequel to Layer Cake.As he did with Cake, Connolly is turning Madness into a script, with Statham looking to take over the nameless leading character role from Daniel Craig, who starred for Matthew Vaughn in 2004.Despite ending up with a gunshot wound at the end of that film, the sequel will find our hero alive and pondering retirement, looking for somewhere warm and beach-tastic to spend the rest of his days. Instead, what he finds is a world of drug deals, money laundering, electronic fraud, London gangsters and cartels. Vaughn is not currently attached to the film, but if it does get made,...

Jason Statham and producer Steve Chasman have acquired the film rights to J.J. Connolly's novel "Viva La Madness".

'Viva' is Connolly's sequel to "Layer Cake," the book he wrote which became the 2004 Matthew Vaughn film which starred Daniel Craig as the nameless protagonist. Connolly is adapting the novel into a script with Statham to play the same character Craig did in 'Layer' .

Surviving his gunshot wound, the man is now looking to retire to a beach. Instead he becomes involved with trans-Atlantic drug deals, money laundering, high-tech electronic fraud, London lowlifes and Venezuelan drug cartels.

Statham and Chasman will produce for their Sj Pictures banner, the company's second film following the upcoming adaptation of William Goldman's "Heat".

Source: Deadline...

Jason Statham will star in the Layer Cake sequel Viva La Madness.

Statham and his manager and producing partner Steve Chasman have acquired the rights to J.J. Connolly's novel, Deadline reports.

As he did with 2004's Layer Cake, Connolly is adapting his novel into a screenplay.

Statham will play Craig's nameless character, who was last seen trying to survive a gunshot wound in Layer Cake.

Viva La Madness follows the anti-hero as he tries to find somewhere to retire. However, he soon becomes involved with a trans-Atlantic drug deal, money laundering and fraud.

Viva La Madness will be the second film that Statham and Chasman produce as part of their Sj Pictures production company.

They recently finished production on Heat, with Statham starring alongside Sofia Vergara, Milo Ventimiglia and Stanley Tucci. The film is due for release in 2014.

Watch the trailer for the original Layer Cake below:...

Before Daniel Craig became James Bond and help revolutionize the role and an entire franchise there was a movie he made that put him on the radar as a contender: Matthew Vaughn's "Layer Cake." A nifty little crime thriller which may not have lit up the box office, but at least earned solid reviews and gained more traction in its post-theatrical life as it spread through word of mouth. Now, a decade later, the nameless anti-hero is coming back but this time with a different face. Jason Statham has optioned the rights to the sequel, "Viva La Madness," and will take the lead role for himself. Oh no, continuity! Well, don't cry too fast—the project is being developed in the spirit of movies based on Donald E. Westlake's Parker (who Statham has played) or Jack Ryan or Bond where the any actor can swap in. And moreover,...

Jason Statham is looking to return to his British roots with a follow-up to the 2004 Matthew Vaughn film Layer Cake. Deadline reports that Statham and producing partner Steve Chasman have acquired the rights to author J.J. Connolly’s Layer Cake follow-up novel Viva La Madness with an eye towards Statham taking over the unnamed protagonist role that was filled by Daniel Craig in Vaughn's film. Connolly will script Viva La Madness, which finds the character moving into the world of international crime with trans-Atlantic drug deals, money laundering, and high-tech electronic fraud. More after the jump. Deadline’s report has no word on who might direct Viva La Madness, but I for one hope they stick with a British filmmaker to maintain the same sensibility as Layer Cake. Statham recently wrapped a role in The Expendables 3 and is currently filming his turn as the antagonist in Fast & Furious 7, with...

Exclusive: Jason Statham and his manager and producing partner Steve Chasman have acquired rights to the J.J. Connolly novel Viva La Madness. That is Connolly’s follow-up novel to Layer Cake. Just as he did with the the Matthew Vaughn-directed film that starred Daniel Craig, Connolly again is turning his novel into a script. Connolly never names his chief protagonist anti-hero, but Statham will play the same nameless character we last saw trying to survive a gunshot wound in Layer Cake. It took Connolly more than a decade to follow that tale. Here, his protagonist is looking for a beach to land on in retirement, but instead he gets involved with trans-Atlantic drug deals, money laundering, high-tech electronic fraud, London lowlifes and Venezuelan drug cartels. Statham and Chasman will test the idea that a protagonist can play the same character in different movies, the way that everyone from from Mel Gibson to Lee Marvin,...

Fans of Matthew Vaughn's Layer Cake can rejoice that a sequel is on the way. But, it will not star Daniel Craig and will not be directed by Vaughn. Confused? Read on. Layer Cake was based on the novel of the same name by J.J. Connolly which he also adapted for Vaughn. In the 10 years since that novel's publication, Connolly has been hard at work on a sequel which is finally ready for publication. The follow-up is titled Viva La Madness and has been optioned by Jason Statham who is...

J.J. Connolly's 2000 novel Layer Cake became the basis for Matthew Vaughn's directorial debut in 2004. Now, Deadline reports that a big screen take on Connolly's 2011 sequel, Viva La Madness , is on the way and that Jason Statham is set to take on the nameless lead role (played by Daniel Craig in the 2004 film). "From the many levels of the London underworld portrayed in 'Layer Cake,' 'Viva la Madness' moves to international crime with trans-Atlantic drug deals, money laundering and high-tech electronic fraud, portrayed with the same uncanny believability," reads the novel's official description. "The anonymous hero of 'Layer Cake' is pulled back into the drug game before he can escape to a sunny retirement: in an authentic but dazzling combination of...

J.J. Connolly’s debut novel Layer Cake was published in 2000, and brought to the screen by Matthew Vaughn in 2004. It was the first film Matthew Vaughn directed, after being a producer for Guy Richie’s Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch (and Swept Away – Shhhhh!). The film was a breakthrough starring role for Daniel Craig, proving he could carry a movie and helping pave the way for him to take over as James Bond. It’s a tense, dark and often very funny movie, full of plot twists and with an ending that will catch you by surprise. It’s an underrated movie, and the book is even better.

On the surface Layer Cake looks quite similar to Lock Stock, both blackly funny films set in a London underworld filled with larger than life characters, violence and double-crosses. Looking more closely though, Layer Cake is a very different film indeed.