One Shōgun star has now been cast in Guy Ritchie’s new movie, Wife & Dog. Ritchie is the British filmmaker behind classics like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), with his more recent efforts including The Gentleman (2019), Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant (2023), and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024). Ritchie’s next movie, Wife & Dog, doesn’t yet have any plot details, but it will star Benedict Cumberbatch, Anthony Hopkins, and Rosamund Pike.
Variety now reports that Shōgun actor Cosmo Jarvis, who played John Blackthorne on the hit FX show, has joined Wife & Dog. The report states that Jarvis will be playing Hopkins’ son and Pike’s sister in the movie. Though no story information is included in the casting report, the movie is said to take place in the “backstabbing world of the British upper classes,” much like The Gentlemen movie and the more recent TV show did.
What The Wife & Dog Casting Update Means For The Guy Ritchie Movie
Shōgun Was A Major Hit
Released on FX in early 2024, Shōgun adapts James Clavell’s novel of the same name, chronicling the power struggles of a group of lords in feudal Japan. Jarvis’ Blackthorne plays a crucial role in the narrative as an outsider who eventually becomes a key ally to Hiroyuki Sanada’s Lord Toranaga. Shōgun‘s reviews were glowing from critics and the show has been an awards juggernaut, with praise heaped upon the show’s lead performers.
Though praise for the Shōgun cast is most often aimed at Sanada and Lady Mariko actor Anna Sawai, Jarvis is a crucial ingredient in the show, and his casting bodes well for Wife & Dog. Both of Ritchie’s The Gentlemen projects have also been well-received, with both having 75% critics’ scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Following the success of season 1, The Gentlemen season 2 has been confirmed, speaking to the demand for Ritchie’s unique filmmaking and storytelling sensibilities.
In addition to Shōgun, Jarvis, who is British, has previously appeared in Lady Macbeth (2016), Persuasion (2022), and Raised by Wolves.
Our Take On Cosmo Jarvis’ Wife & Dog Casting
Jarvis Could Become A Much Bigger Star
Jarvis will presumably be reprising his role as Blackthorne for the announced Shōgun season 2 and a season 3 is also in the works, so the next few years could end up being quite busy for the actor. If Wife & Dog is a hit, Jarvis could become a leading man in the world of movies, in addition to the world of TV.
With The Gentlemen having been a hit and Wife & Dog set to feature a similar tone, though, the upcoming movie could end up breaking this trend and giving the beloved British director another win.
Ritchie’s track record over the last few years has been somewhat spotty, with Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023) failing critically and commercially and The Covenant proving to be a box office dud as well. With The Gentlemen having been a hit and Wife & Dog set to feature a similar tone, though, the upcoming movie could end up breaking this trend and giving the beloved British director another win.
Source: Variety
