# RocknRolla
**RocknRolla** is a 2008 British crime comedy film written and directed by [Guy Ritchie](https://www.edgepedia.org/guy-ritchie), in which a crooked land deal by a Russian mobster draws every layer of London's criminal underworld into a scramble for millions. It runs 114 minutes, is rated R, and was produced by Dark Castle with distribution by [Warner Bros. Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-bros-pictures).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64741-ROCKNROLLA)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Guy Ritchie, his third London gangster film after *Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels* (1998) and *Snatch* (2000)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64741-ROCKNROLLA) • [2](https://unitesi.unive.it/retrieve/56dcdb9d-a355-47f8-a81c-3653f27d1480/892663-1285365.pdf) |
| Lead cast | Gerard Butler (One Two), Tom Wilkinson (Lenny Cole), Thandie Newton (Stella), Mark Strong (Archy), Idris Elba (Mumbles), Tom Hardy (Handsome Bob), Toby Kebbell (Johnny), Karel Roden (Uri Omovich)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64741-ROCKNROLLA) |
| Release | United Kingdom 5 September 2008; United States limited 8 October 2008, wide 31 October 2008; video 27 January 2009[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/RocknRolla) |
| Box office | Domestic $5,700,626 on a reported $18,000,000 production budget; worldwide $25.7 million per Box Office Mojo[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/RocknRolla) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1032755/) |
| Critical scores | 60% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (146 reviews); Metascore 53 from 28 critics; user score 7.3 on Metacritic[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rocknrolla) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rocknrolla/) |
| Sequel tease | A closing title card promises "Johnny, Archy and the Wild Bunch will be back in The Real RocknRolla"; no sequel has been made[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/faq/) • [8](https://www.slashfilm.com/1438625/rocknrolla-2-is-it-happening/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story is set in a contemporary London where, as the film's synopsis puts it, real estate has supplanted drugs as the biggest market and criminals are its most enthusiastic entrepreneurs.[9](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/RocknRolla/15829/) Lenny Cole ([Tom Wilkinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-wilkinson)), an old-school mobster who rules the underworld with well-greased palms, takes a cut of local property deals and helps Uri Omovich ([Karel Roden](https://www.edgepedia.org/karel-roden)), a wealthy Russian developer, navigate the city's red tape.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rocknrolla) • [9](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/RocknRolla/15829/)
As a sign of good faith, Omovich loans Cole a valuable painting, which is promptly stolen from Cole's wall. While Cole's dependable right-hand man Archy ([Mark Strong](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-strong)) searches for the canvas, three petty criminals known as the Wild Bunch, led by One Two ([Gerard Butler](https://www.edgepedia.org/gerard-butler)), steal money from the Russian using inside information from his accountant Stella (Thandie Newton). Meanwhile the drug-addled rocker Johnny Quid ([Toby Kebbell](https://www.edgepedia.org/toby-kebbell)), Cole's stepson, is reported drowned, and his connection to Cole is the key that unravels the deceits and double crosses of the underworld.[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/plotsummary/) The film closes with Johnny, newly sober and freed, proclaiming that he will now do what he could not do before: become a real RocknRolla.[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/plotsummary/)
## Production and release
Guy Ritchie wrote and directed the film and produced it with [Joel Silver](https://www.edgepedia.org/joel-silver), Susan Downey, and [Steve Clark](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-clark)-Hall for Dark Castle, with David Higgs as cinematographer and [James Herbert](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-herbert) as editor.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64741-ROCKNROLLA) Production companies were Warner Bros., Dark Castle Entertainment, and Toff Guy Films, with StudioCanal financing in association.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/RocknRolla) • [11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/companycredits/) The film opened in the United Kingdom on 5 September 2008, in a limited United States release on 8 October 2008, and expanded wide on 31 October 2008; Warner Home Video issued it on video on 27 January 2009.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/RocknRolla)
With *RocknRolla*, Ritchie moved his London crime setting from the small-time rackets of his earlier films to the city's lucrative real estate market, using the skyline as a front for high-level corruption.[12](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tale-two-cities-london-modern-film) A British Film Institute list of London crime films describes the movie as one of the genre's "fanciful fictions".[13](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-london-crime-films)
## Box office
The film earned $5,700,626 in the United States and Canada, about 20.5 percent of its total gross, from an opening weekend of $144,701 in 7 theaters before expanding to a maximum of 836.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/RocknRolla) Its strongest market was the United Kingdom, with $8,915,788.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1032755/) The two main aggregators disagree on the worldwide total: The Numbers reports $27,794,339, while [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) reports $25,742,207.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/RocknRolla) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1032755/) Against a reported production budget of $18,000,000, the theatrical run returned roughly 1.5 times its budget worldwide, and estimated domestic disc sales added $10,803,165.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/RocknRolla)
## Reception
Response was mixed. Rotten Tomatoes records a 60 percent Tomatometer from 146 reviews and a 71 percent Popcornmeter from more than 50,000 audience ratings, with the critics consensus calling it a step in the right direction for Ritchie after two poorly received films.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rocknrolla) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 53 from 28 critics, labeled mixed or average, against a user score of 7.3 from 174 ratings.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rocknrolla/)
Reviewers divided over whether the film revived Ritchie's early style or imitated it. Positive notices included Owen Gleiberman in *Entertainment Weekly* (83), who wrote that Ritchie concocts a crime-jungle demimonde organically linked to the real world, and *Variety*'s Joe Leydon (80), who called it a cleverly constructed, sensationally stylish seriocomic caper.[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/criticreviews/) Negative reviews included Stephanie Zacharek in *Salon* (40) and a 10 from the *Village Voice*; the *Chicago Tribune*'s Michael Phillips gave it 1.5 of 4 stars, criticizing its "morally weightless flash".[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/criticreviews/) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rocknrolla) Several critics singled out Toby Kebbell's performance as the rocker Johnny Quid; audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes repeatedly name him, Mark Strong, and [Tom Hardy](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-hardy) as standouts.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rocknrolla)
## The unrealized sequel
The film ends with a title card stating that "Johnny, Archy and the Wild Bunch will be back in The Real RocknRolla".[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/faq/) More than a decade later no sequel had materialized, and a 2023 SlashFilm retrospective noted that several of the film's stars, including Tom Hardy and [Idris Elba](https://www.edgepedia.org/idris-elba), had become far more famous in the intervening years, complicating any reunion.[8](https://www.slashfilm.com/1438625/rocknrolla-2-is-it-happening/)
## References
1. [RocknRolla (2008), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64741-ROCKNROLLA)
2. [The Modern British Gangster, Università Ca' Foscari thesis](https://unitesi.unive.it/retrieve/56dcdb9d-a355-47f8-a81c-3653f27d1480/892663-1285365.pdf)
3. [RocknRolla (2008) Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/RocknRolla)
4. [RocknRolla (2008), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1032755/)
5. [RocknRolla, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rocknrolla)
6. [RocknRolla Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rocknrolla/)
7. [RocknRolla (2008) FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/faq/)
8. [Is RocknRolla 2 Happening?, SlashFilm (Valerie Ettenhofer, Nov. 6, 2023)](https://www.slashfilm.com/1438625/rocknrolla-2-is-it-happening/)
9. [RocknRolla (2008) Plot and Synopsis, Tribute Movies](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/RocknRolla/15829/)
10. [RocknRolla (2008) Plot, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/plotsummary/)
11. [RocknRolla (2008) Company Credits, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/companycredits/)
12. [A tale of two cities: London in modern film, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tale-two-cities-london-modern-film)
13. [10 great London crime films, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-london-crime-films)
14. [RocknRolla (2008) Metacritic reviews, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/criticreviews/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Law and justice › Criminal law and penal justice › Crime, criminology, and criminal justice policy › Crime in media and culture › Crime film genre*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license