Introduction

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is an upcoming spy action comedy film directed and co-written by Guy Ritchie, based on the 2014 book Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII by Damien Lewis.

The film portrays a heavily fictionalised version of Operation Postmaster.

Outline

Based in part on real historical events, the film’s storyline is about the Special Operations Executive, a covert British World War II organisation formed in 1940 at instigation of Prime Minister Winston Churchill for conducting espionage and sabotage in Nazi-occupied Europe. SOE operations contributed significantly to the Allied victory over Nazi Germany and were forerunners of modern-day black operations and irregular warfare.

Cast

• Henry Cavill as Gus March-Phillipps
• Eiza González
• Alan Ritchson as Anders Lassen
• Henry Golding
• Alex Pettyfer as Geoffrey Appleyard
• Hero Fiennes Tiffin
• Babs Olusanmokun
• Til Schweiger
• Henrique Zaga
• Cary Elwes
• Roger Snipes
• Danny Sapani
• Freddie Fox as Ian Fleming
• Olaf Kayhan
• Mert Dincer
• Ethel von Brixham

Production

Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to Damien Lewis’s book The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops in 2015. Guy Ritchie signed on to direct the project in February 2021, from a script by Arash Amel, with Jerry Bruckheimer producing the film. In October 2022, Henry Cavill and Eiza González were set to star, with Paramount no longer involved and Black Bear International now handling sales for the project. In February 2023, additional casting including Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer and Cary Elwes was announced.

Filming began on 13 February 2023, in Antalya, Turkey. It wrapped up in April 2023.

The day filming began, it was announced Lionsgate had acquired US distribution rights to the film, planning to give it a wide release in 2024, and that select international distribution rights had been sold to Amazon Prime Video.

Trivia

• When Henry Cavill is talking to Cary Elwes about the mission, he reaches into a box of cigars.
  • The cigars are Fuente OpusX, which were not produced until 1995.
  • Churchill also only smoked Cuban cigars, usually Romeo y Julieta.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s):
  • Guy Ritchie
• Producer(s):
  • Mohammed Al Turki … executive producer
  • Ivan Atkinson … producer
  • Siobhan Boyes … co-producer
  • Jerry Bruckheimer … producer
  • Dave Caplan … executive producer
  • Jason Cloth … executive producer
  • Iain Farmer … executive producer
  • Olga Filipuk … executive producer
  • John Friedberg … producer
  • Michael Heimler … executive producer
  • Eric Johnson … executive producer
  • K. Blaine Johnston … executive producer
  • Max Keene … co-producer
  • Scott LaStaiti … executive producer
  • Damien Lewis … executive producer
  • Chad Oman … producer
  • Niall Perrett … co-producer
  • Llewellyn Radley … executive producer
  • Anders Sandberg … executive producer
  • Teddy Schwarzman … executive producer
  • Jill Silfen … executive producer
  • Alex Sutherland … co-producer
  • Paul Tamasy … executive producer
  • Christopher Woodrow … executive producer
• Writer(s):
  • Paul Tamasy … (screenplay) &
  • Eric Johnson … (screenplay) &
  • Arash Amel … (screenplay) &
  • Guy Ritchie … (screenplay)
  • Damien Lewis … (book)
• Music:
  • Christopher Benstead
• Cinematography:
  • Ed Wild … director of photography
• Editor(s):
  • James Herbert
• Production:
  • Black Bear
  • Jerry Bruckheimer Films
  • Lionsgate Films
  • Media Capital Technologies (made in association with)
• Distributor(s):
  • Lionsgate Films (United States, 2023)(theatrical)
  • Volga (Russia, 2024)(theatrical)
  • KINOPOISK (Russia, 2024)(TV)
  • Phars Film (United Arab Emirates, 2024)(Middle East)
  • Studio Plus (Russia, 2024)(video)
• Release Date: 19 April 2024.
• Running time: 120 minutes.
• Rating: Unknown.
• Country: UK and US.
• Language: English.

Video Clip(s)