Snatch, Sherlock Holmes and The Gentlemen director Guy Ritchie is set to direct his first war film with Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
The Paramount Pictures project is based on Damien Lewis’ long-titled 2015 book Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops, telling the true story of what may have been Britain’s first black ops unit. The story is set in 1939 during WWII, following the military unit that was crafted under Winston Churchill’s order. The “deniable” group operated on their own and engaged in rule-breaking acts of warfare to take down the Nazis behind enemy lines.
Deadline broke the news, reporting that Ritchie will also be on board to write the screenplay. The latest draft comes from A Private War and Grace of Monaco scribe Arash Amel. Big-time producer Jerry Bruckheimer is also on board, producing alongside Chad Oman via the Jerry Bruckheimer Films banner.
After years directing more broad blockbuster fare such as the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes films, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and Disney’s live-action Aladdin remake (which topped $1 billion in earnings worldwide), Ritchie returned to the realm of gangsters with 2019’s well-received The Gentlemen. He’ has two Jason Statham-starring pics coming out before heading to WWII : Wrath of Man and Five Eyes.
Stay tuned…
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