Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre, Which Stars Jason Statham As A Guy Named Orson Fortune, Is Getting A Theatrical Release After All

Hey, remember that big Guy Ritchie movie starring Jason Statham that was supposed to be released sometime in 2022, then it just sort of disappeared off the face of the planet? Well, now you do, because "Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre" is now on track to release very, very soon.

Lionsgate announced that the Ritchie film will bow in theaters on March 3 after already being released in several countries back in January. In a press release, the company announced that it had acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film from STX Entertainment, which shuttered its film distribution department in November 2022. This deal may have coincided with the one Lionsgate recently announced for another one of Ritchie's upcoming films, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare," as they too will distribute that movie in the United States.

Anyways, let's get to the important stuff, and that is refreshing your memory as to what in the world "Operation Fortune" is about. International man of mystery Orson Fortune (Statham, and no, I'm not making that name up) is tasked with taking down an international arms dealer named Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant). However, he can't do this mission on his own: he'll be flanked by other international operatives, including Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza) and JJ Davies (Bugzy Malone), and maybe one blackmailed movie star (Josh Hartnett).

Just by watching the film's recently-released trailer, it seems like a pretty standard Ritchie movie. That's not a bad thing — he's a good director, especially when making crime flicks like "Operation Fortune" is shaping up to be. It also got mixed-to-positive reviews when it was released in international territories earlier this year. The question you might be asking yourself is, why did they essentially bury this movie for so long?

That can all be boiled down to one extremely unfortunate coincidence. According to a rumor published in the Evening Standard, the film was pulled from release because the character of Simmonds utilizes Ukrainian mafia members as his bodyguards and lackeys. While this hasn't been officially confirmed by Lionsgate or other members of the production, it makes sense. The film's original release date wound up coinciding with the major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, and since the war was still ongoing when it was rescheduled to March of 2022 (and is still waging on as of this writing), there seemingly was no good time for "Operation Fortune" to commence. There were rumors during STX Entertainment's restructuring that it would be released through a streaming platform, but it sounds like those plans won't be coming to fruition.

At least the cast and crew of this film can finally take a big breath, knowing that the work they put into this film will be honored, after all. "Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre" will arrive in theaters on March 3, 2023.