Madonna 'to star' in Ritchie flick

Snatch: Guy Ritchie's most recent success

Pop diva Madonna is to have a leading role in an upcoming film by her new husband, it has been reported.

The singer will play an American who gets caught up in the English criminal underworld in Guy Ritchie's project The Mole, according to the Daily Mirror.

She wed the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director in Scotland on 22 December, the day after the baptism of their four-month-old child Rocco.

"If all goes well, work could begin in March," the newspaper quotes an unnamed source as saying.

Mrs Guy Ritchie: Has had varying success with previous acting roles

"Madonna will obviously be the big star, and there is some talk of a producing role for her."

Madonna, 42, has had varying successes with her various ventures into movies.

Her most successful part was the leading role in the musical Evita, released in 1996.

She won a Golden Globe for that performance, but missed out on an Oscar nomination.

But critics have panned several of her efforts, including Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), Shanghai Surprise (1986) and Body of Evidence (1993).

She is not the only pop star to have had mixed luck in trying a new genre.

Acclaim

Honest, starring three of the members of All Saints and directed by Dave Stewart, did not live up to expectations when it opened earlier this year.

Ritchie's movies have met with critical and popular acclaim and turned him into a hot property in his own right.

Millions of people flocked to see Lock, Stock..., his depiction of the dodgy dealings of London gangsters, and it went on to become a multi-award winner, grossing £11.7m at the UK box office.

It also made a star of ex-Wimbledon footballer Vinnie Jones.

His second film, Snatch, also did well, taking £3m in its first weekend earlier this year, a record opening for an 18-rated film.

Ritchie is currently working on a 17th Century civil war action drama, which is slated for production in 2001.