“Lock, Stock” is one of the most iconic crime films on the planet. I was sure I knew every piece of trivia about it, but once I started digging (mainly to clear up a few story questions) I stumbled upon several curious moments.

Why do they keep joking about Tom’s weight?

Steven Mackintosh, a much heftier actor, was originally cast as Tom. Later Ritchie reshuffled the parts, giving Mackintosh Nick the Greek and hiring skinny Jason Flemyng as Tom.

Ritchie decided to leave the already written fat jokes in, which is why Tom’s friends won’t stop teasing him about the extra kilos.

Vinnie Jones’ character

Vinnie Jones was the very first actor locked in. Big Chris was described in the script as “a guy who looks like Vinnie Jones,” and at the time the footballer was notorious across England as a ruthless Premier League enforcer. Ritchie casually offered him the role and he immediately agreed.

Fun detail: out of 44 actors in the film, 17 had never appeared in a movie before.

Why is Bacon called Bacon?

“Bacon” is British slang for police officers. The script clarifies that young Bacon spent so much time hanging around the station that people assumed he actually worked there.

As for Statham himself, he really did hustle on the streets when he was young and broke. His audition consisted of Ritchie asking him to sell some random trinket; Jason slipped straight back into his old routine and nailed the part.

The moment when Eddie forgets the shotguns

While the gang prepares to ambush the rival thieves, Bacon notices that Eddie forgot the guns and sends him back, swearing loudly. That gag was born after the crew genuinely left the prop shotguns behind multiple times during shooting.

Why does Harry crave JD’s bar?

A deleted snippet has JD’s assistant Alan explaining it to Eddie. Long ago Harry and JD were playing cards. Harry nearly cleaned out Eddie’s father, but luck flipped at the very last moment and JD won the pot. Harry suffered a heart attack, and JD spent the winnings on the bar — ever since then Harry has dreamed of taking it away.

Why the film is called that

The idiom “lock, stock and barrel” (the three main parts of a gun) means “everything altogether.” “Smoking gun” refers to undeniable proof. Guy Ritchie mashed the two expressions together and got “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.”

The prequel

In 1995 Ritchie shot a 20-minute short called “Hard Case” about a tricky card game between acquaintances. I still haven’t managed to find the film in any format — if you do, please drop a link!

How Sting ended up in the film

Ritchie knew Peter Morton, the founder of Hard Rock Cafe. When Morton heard the director was looking for investors, he suggested reaching out to Trudie Styler, who ran a production company. She liked the script, adored “Hard Case,” helped raise the budget, and even convinced her husband to make a cameo.

If you haven’t guessed, Trudie’s husband is Sting, who duly appears in the film as JD — the bar owner and the protagonist’s father.

The U.S. release story

American distributors weren’t eager to pick up the movie, so Trudie organised a private screening for several producers, including her friend Tom Cruise. Cruise loved it and persuaded a few executives to release it stateside. The film earned $3.5 million in the U.S. — not huge, but respectable for a British import with no famous stars.

Later the distributors admitted that American viewers struggled with the dense British slang, a joke Ritchie would riff on in “Snatch” with Cousin Avi.

The Madonna story

Madonna also fell for the film, especially the soundtrack, which she released on her label. Apparently she liked the director too — a year and a half later she married Guy Ritchie.