Winstone's 'Sweeney' project revived

Ray Winstone and Nick Love's big screen remake of The Sweeney has been revived by Vertigo Films, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Vertigo has retained the remake rights to the '70s police show, which starred John Thaw and Dennis Waterman, and Love will pen a new draft of the script that he will direct with Winstone in the role of Jack Regan.

According to producer James Richardson, Love's Sweeney will be "a gritty, slick, British cops and robbers movie".

A Sweeney film had been in the works as recently as last year with Winstone, Michael Fassbender and Ashley Walters among the cast, but the project fell apart due to financial issues.

Daniel Craig, Ewan McGregor, Orlando Bloom and Tom Hardy were recently linked to the role of George Carter in the Sweeney remake.