Typically, Guy Ritchie, who is a very prolific director by today’s standards, would normally take about two or three years between features. However, in 2019, he released “Aladdin,” and followed that up in early 2020 with “The Gentlemen.” According to reports, he has already wrapped up production on his next film, “Wrath of Man,” and is deep into production on his next film, “Five Eyes.” Add to that the upcoming TV adaptation of “The Gentlemen” and “Aladdin 2,” whenever that gets going, and you can see that Ritchie is really going full speed ahead in his career. So, why not add a WWII action thriller to the mix for good measure?
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According to Deadline, Guy Ritchie has teamed up with Paramount to write and direct, “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” The film is based on the book “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops” by Damien Lewis. As that book’s rather long title suggests, “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” tells the story of Winston Churchill’s plan to create the first secret group of British soldiers during World War II that would go behind enemy lines and not play by the traditional rules of combat, thus creating a Black Ops team.
Over his career, Ritchie has tackled spy films (“The Man from UNCLE”), Victorian mystery-action (“Sherlock Holmes”), crime-thrillers (“The Gentlemen,” “Snatch,” and more), and even the Arthurian legend (“King Arthur”). But with ‘Ministry,’ it finally gives Ritchie the opportunity to make a WWII war film, which judging by the premise of the feature, also gives him his own version of “Inglorious Basterds” to figure out.
And with Ritchie’s recent dive back into action films after the “Aladdin” detour, it’ll be fun to see how he takes his style and sensibilities and adapts them to a WWII period war thriller. One thing is for sure, this won’t be “Saving Private Ryan.”