VINNIE JONES - VINNIE JONES A FAVOURITE TO PLAY RITCHIE'S GAMEKEEPER

Soccer star-turned-movie tough guy VINNIE JONES is the frontrunner to land the lead in GUY RITCHIE's movie adaptation of his THE GAMEKEEPER comic book series. Jeff Parker, the acclaimed writer, who has helped turn the director's strong and silent hunter, Brock, into a comic book hit, is keen for Jones to take the lead in the film Ritchie is making with The Matrix mogul Joel Silver. Parker says, "Vinnie Jones would be perfect. He has such presence and, in every movie I've seen him in, I can't wait for him to show up." And the writer also has another Brit in mind to play The Gamekeeper's villain, who leads a gang of assassins, called The Soccer Club. He adds, "I just keep thinking about Terence Stamp. He'd be perfect." But Parker admits Ritchie is refusing to reveal anything about the casting of the movie, which went into pre-production last year (07). If the writer's casting dreams come true it won't be the first time Jones and Ritchie have teamed up - the Gone In 60 Seconds star had roles in the director's Snatch and Lock, Stock + Two Smoking Barrels. Jones also shares something else with Ritchie - both stars are country gents with tough images, just like the lead character the director and Jeff Parker have created. The plot of the film revolves around Brock's efforts to escape his violent and mysterious past as the caretaker of a small Scottish estate of Glen Morgan. The first series of the Virgin comic book has been a big success and Parker has just completed work on a second series with Star Wars and Star Trek artist Ron Randall.