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From watching movies at The Wheel in Durban to becoming Guy Ritchie's right-hand man

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Ivan Atkinson and Guy Ritchie attend the Special NY Screening of The Gentlemen at the Alamo Drafthouse on 11 January 2020 in New York City. (Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for STXfilms)
Ivan Atkinson and Guy Ritchie attend the Special NY Screening of The Gentlemen at the Alamo Drafthouse on 11 January 2020 in New York City. (Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for STXfilms)

When he was about 12 or 13 years old, Ivan Atkinson loved watching movies at The Wheel in Durban. He'd go every weekend and watch every movie. Now, his films are screened across the world. How'd that happen? Pull up a chair and pour yourself a whisky. This is his story.


Ivan Atkinson is known for his work on The Gentlemen (2019), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Aladdin (2019), and most recently, Wrath of Man starring Jason Statham. The last mentioned, based on the French film Le convoyeur and directed by Guy Ritchie, is currently available on DStv Box Office in South Africa.

The film centres on a character named Patrick Hill, played by Jason, as he joins a Los Angeles-based armoured car security company. But there's something about this mysterious new employee that seems a little unusual. Known simply as "H", his story masterfully unfolds in this brilliant action-packed film that will leave you with your jaw on the floor.

If, at first sight, you might mistake producer and co-writer Ivan for one of the stars in the adrenaline-pumping flick, you'd be forgiven. "That happens to me a lot," the 43-year-old tells me over Zoom one evening from London, dressed in a fitted black T-shirt and black cap.

"I always get this thing when I turn up on set, I'm like six-three and weigh 90 kilos, and everybody goes: 'Who is the bodyguard?' And I'm like: 'I'm not the bodyguard, I'm the writer of the film,'" he says laughing.

Behind his British accent hides a hint of something local, and he proudly acknowledges his South African roots: "Ja, I'm a Durban boy. I'm in London now. I moved over in December '98. I've been in England longer than I was in South Africa, but when it comes to rugby... it's the Springboks through-and-through."

How did a lad from Durban end up working side-by-side with one of the most iconic British filmmakers of all time? Well, it's an interesting story that includes a pub, a gym, and, most importantly, an insatiable love for cinema.

A brief history

"I'll give you a quick brief history," he says, taking a sip from the cup in his hand, then adds: "Growing up in Durban, cinema was always my thing. I remember my brother taking me to the movies for the first time.

"One of the first movies I remember watching with him was Return of the Jedi. He's a big cinephile like me. I got to a stage when I was about 12 or 13 years old, living on The Bluff when I'd get up early in the morning on a Saturday and catch the first bus into town. I'd go to The Wheel, and I'd watch every screening the whole day.

"I don't know if they still have it, I still remember it, but the showtimes are set. You had the 10:45 movie, 12:15, the 14:30, the 17:15, 19:45, and then 22:00. I'd go, and that would be my whole day. I'd bounce around from one film to another, and sometimes when I'd seen everything, I'd go back and watch something again.

"After a couple of weeks of doing that, I got to know the guys working at the cinema and then after a while, they would just let me do my thing. So, my late 80s and 90s film knowledge is pretty good. When I moved to England, that was what helped me get into the film industry when the opportunity came along."

Lili Rich and Ivan Atkinson attend a special screening of The Gentlemen at The Curzon Mayfair on 3 December 2019 in London, England. (Photo: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage)
Ivan Atkinson attends the Special NY Screening of The Gentlemen in New York City. (Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for STXfilms)
Jason Statham stars as H in director Guy Ritchies
Jason Statham stars as H in Wrath of Man. (Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures)

And a bit of luck

Ivan's love for cinema would pay off big time, and so would his adventurous spirit. To find success, Ivan realised, he needed to be a yes-man, a hard working man, and have Lady Luck on his side too.

How did he meet Guy?

Here's the three-minute version: "I grew up in The Bluff and moved to the beach to the Durban beachfront. I stayed with about four or five of my friends, and we were surfing during the day, waitering at a restaurant called Mac Rib at night. It was the life if you're 19 or 20 years old. You get to surf all day, hang out with your mates in the evening, work and make a bit of money. If there's five of you and you live together, you don't need to earn that much money.

"Then I just had this weird sort of epiphany: 'Oh shit, what am I going to be doing when I'm 40?' I just had to do that thing where I just leave everything behind.

"When I first moved to England, I had a couple of weeks up in Wales and then came back down to London and literally had no money. I mean, like no money. I had like 50 pounds to my name. That's it: no place to stay or anything.

"I got a job working in a pub, and then I just took this attitude that I was just going to say 'yes' to every opportunity that comes my way. From working in the pub, someone offered me a job working in construction during the day, so I could still work at the pub at night. I did that for about four or five years.

"I do Brazilian jiu-jitsu and was training at a club that ended up relocating to a gym in Soho. It was one of those places where a lot of celebrities come and train. Somehow after a couple of years of that, I found myself working there as a full-time trainer and teaching jiu-jitsu in the evenings.

"Then I met Guy that way because he lived in the area, and he'd come down to do the jiu-jitsu class. We just became friends and chatted about stuff. It didn't take him long to assess that I was this encyclopedia of films. Eventually, he just said to me, 'You know more about films than I do. Do you want a job?'. Then it just went from there.

"I started off working for him as his driver and jiu-jitsu coach, then worked my way up to be an assistant. Then he had a producing partner, and they parted ways, and I sort of just stepped up and said: 'Give me a chance to put something together'. It just went from there."

Ivan takes a bit of a pause, then adds: "There's a much longer version. But that's the short version."

And the rest? Well, that's history.

Wrath of Man is now available to rent on DStv Box Office.

Wrath of Man - Fact Box

With their gleefully fast-paced, anarchic 1990s hits Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, groundbreaking filmmaker Guy Ritchie and imminently watchable star Jason Statham took cinema by storm.

Those acclaimed films established Ritchie as a relentlessly inventive director with a singular approach and announced Statham as a charismatic leading man who could easily command the screen while cracking skulls and cracking wise.

Although the duo continued to work together over the years, after 2005’s Revolver, their busy big-screen careers diverged—until now.

Wrath of Man reunites filmmaker and star once again, though there’s no question this script is thematically darker and far less blackly comic than any of their previous collaborations.

- Supplied

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