After announcing the Jake Gyllenhall warfare film The Covenant, Guy Ritchie is returning to the genre. The Snatch director is currently working on a new movie that chronicles the birth of the modern Black Ops unit, set during the World War II era. Dubbed The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, the new flick will mark a reunion of sorts, with Ritchie also tapping The Man From U.N.C.L.E. star Henry Cavill for a lead role.
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Winston Churchill | Image: War Office official photographer, Horton (Cpt), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
As recently as this week, Deadline reported that Lionsgate has bagged the domestic distribution rights to the movie, with Amazon Prime Video overseeing the international release, distributing across Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, India and pan-Asian pay TV. Besides being on directing duties, Ritchie has even penned the script for the movie with Arash Amel, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson, based on war correspondent and military historian Damien Lewis’ book of the same name.
“Ministry is precisely what cinemas need right now – larger-than-life entertainment with incredible talent on both sides of the camera and an unbelievable true story,” Bruckheimer said. “We are thrilled to partner with Adam and Lionsgate to bring this to theatres across the US, as well as our incredible international partners, including Prime Video.”
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is being touted as an “outrageous true story,” centring around the secret WWII combat organisation created by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and James Bond writer Ian Fleming. According to the synopsis, “this clandestine squad’s unconventional and entirely ‘ungentlemanly’ fighting techniques against the Nazis significantly changed the course of the war and gave birth to the modern Black Ops unit.”
Guy Ritchie and Henry Cavill at the premiere of ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ (2015) | Image: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
The movie has even locked down an all-star cast, including Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henrique Zaga, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, Cary Elwes, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusanmokun and Til Schweiger. However, no details surrounding what roles these will be playing have been shared. Principal photography for Ritchie’s upcoming war thriller is already in motion in Turkey, which recently experienced a devastating earthquake.
According to Ritchie and the producers involved, the shoot is slated to happen “several hundred miles from the epicentre” of the catastrophe. “We do so with profound sympathy for everyone affected,” expressed Ritchie in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the members of our crew with family in the region. We wish to express our sincere condolences to the people of Turkey. We stand by them and are committed to supporting members of our production team and the wider community over the coming weeks and months.”
As of writing, no first look or trailers/teasers for the movie have been released. But we expect that to change considering the movie’s already entered principal photography. Jerry Bruckheimer, whose previous credits include Top Gun: Maverick and the Pirates of the Caribbean, acts as a producer on the project alongside Chad Oman, Ivan Atkinson, and John Friedberg. Scott Lastaiti, Olga Filipuk, Damien Lewis, Tamasy and Johnson are attached as executive producers. While no release date has been shared, it’s being said that The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare will hit theatres sometime in 2024.
