Viva La Madness will see Statham replace Daniel Craig in the lead role.
The 2004 cult British crime film Layer Cake will be receiving a sequel in the form of a TV series called Viva La Madness, with Jason Statham in the starring role.
Statham has been pursuing a sequel to the original film for years, and after being developed originally as a film, the project will now become a ten episode series.
Layer Cake was the directorial debut of Kingsman helmer Matthew Vaughn, and the film starred Daniel Craig as a mysterious gunman called ‘XXXX.’ Statham is set to replace Craig in this role for the series, as he has been a busy body with his Bond duties.
The film was also based off a novel of the same name by British author J.J. Connolly, who then published a sequel, which this new series will adapt from.
Statham had this to say about adapting Viva La Madness into a TV series rather than a film:
“The way J.J. writes is so on the ball and authentic, it’s hard to let any of it go. Trying to lose characters or shave down scenes every other page didn’t work, we wanted it all. The best place was a 10 hour-plus show that lets you fully disappear into Connolly’s world.”
Viva La Madness is in early stages of development, and the series has yet to be attached to a network.
We highly recommend you check out Layer Cake if you haven’t. It’s a sharp thriller that plays out like a gritty Bond film. In fact, this film is cited as the reason Craig was selected to become the famous MI6 agent.
Hopefully Statham is able to capture Layer Cake’s ingenuity for a new audience, and for the small screen.
