RICHARD GRIFFITHS - GRIFFITHS SLAMS WITHNAIL + I PLAY

GRIFFITHS SLAMS WITHNAIL + I PLAY

British actor RICHARD GRIFFITHS has branded the proposed stage adaptation of cult movie WITHNAIL + I "a crap idea". The 59-year-old, who played homosexual sexual predator UNCLE MONTY in the 1987 film, insists the play is nothing more than a money-making scheme. Production company HandMade Films insists it owns the necessary rights to produce the adaptation - with JUDE LAW earmarked for the part of I, originally played by PAUL MCGANN - but Withnail + I writer/director BRUCE ROBINSON has already labelled the project "scandalous". Griffiths adds, "It's a crap idea. What function would it serve, except to make someone some money? "Bruce thinks there's something unworthy about the desire to make a play of it. "That's fine by me. He is the creator, and if he says no it's no and that's the end of that."