Having just completed a TV spin-off of his own movie, Netflix’s “The Gentlemen” series based on the 2019 film of the same name (read our review here), filmmaker Guy Ritchie is going back to a similar well. This time, it’s TV to TV: Paramount+, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios & 101 Studios announced that Ritchie will direct and executive produce “The Donovans,” a new series that will be loosely based on Showtime’s popular “Ray Donovan” show starring Liev Schreiber, and Irish award-winning screenwriter, producer, and novelist Ronan Bennett will pen all ten episodes of this new series. Paramount says the plan will be to debut the series on Paramount+ and Paramount+ with Showtime plan later this year.
READ MORE: ‘The Gentlemen’ Review: Guy Ritchie Entertains In A Mostly Amusing Crime Comedy Spin-Off
Ray Donovan was primarily set in New York and Los Angeles, but for this “The Donovans” series, Ritchie will return to his bread and butter: London-based crime dramas like his films, “Snatch” and “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and both aforementioned “The Gentlemen” film and TV projects.
According to Paramount, with the most powerful clients in Europe, “The Donovans” will see family fortunes and reputations at risk, odd alliances unfold, and betrayal around every corner. And while the family might be London’s most elite fixers today, the nature of their business means there is no guarantee what’s in store tomorrow.   
“Guy Ritchie and Ronan Bennett are the ideal dream team to create a new global hit franchise with ‘The Donovans,’” said Chris McCarthy, President of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios. “Guy’s riveting and stylish directorial approach combined with Ronan’s captivating and brutally authentic writing will transfix audiences into a wild and twisted world full of new adventures.”
“We’re elated to partner with Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios to reimagine the Ray Donovan legacy together. Having Guy and Ronan sign on to join us on this incredible journey has been a true blessing,” said David C. Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios. “We could not be more thrilled to take this huge hit and create a new and exciting show for audiences all over the world.”
“The Donovans” sounds a lot like the expansion architecture of his “The Gentlemen” series, which premieres March 7 on Netflix. “The Gentlemen” film centered on an American expat in London, his growing weed empire and the cabal of London gangs looking to take over his operation. The spin-off series, still loosely based on the original, pulls the curtain back a bit further to reveal the crime family running a London-based section of the cannabis empire and the English aristocratic family that learns that their property and land have become part of it all once the patriarch and Duke of the family passes on.
If Ritchie does manage to finish and air the series this year, it will be one super impressive year and arguably one for the records. “The Gentlemen” is about to premiere on Netflix, his film for Lionsgate, “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” is due in theaters in April, and he has at least one more project fully shot and in post-production right now, an action movie with Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill. The director is always moving at a fast clip (and is plotting another film beyond that with John Krasinski and Natalie Portman), but if he can manage to release “The Donovans” in 2024, he’ll have bested the efforts from all of the fastest filmmakers working today, Steven Soderbergh, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, all of them. Cheers to this impressive speed.
“Ray Donovan” proved to be so successful on Showtime that it ran for seven seasons and even ended with a TV movie to cap it all off.