Guy Ritchie's Spy Movie Starring Jason Statham And Aubrey Plaza Has A New Title And Release Date

Do you like James Bond movies? How about the "Ocean's" films? What about Ben Affleck's "Argo"? What if I told you there's a new movie coming out that sounds like a fun combination of all three of those projects? Well, I have good news: there's a movie coming out that sounds like a fun combination of all three of those projects.

After working on this year's "Wrath of Man," Guy Ritchie is reteaming with his frequent collaborator Jason Statham ("Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," "Snatch") on a new thriller that just got an official title. Previously known as "Five Eyes," the movie will now be known as "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre." That's a mouthful of a title, but the plot sounds like a total blast.

The phrase "ruse de guerre" is a French term that means "ruse of war." But there's a better definition: according to author Adam Matuszczyk's 2012 book "Creative Stratagems: Creative and Systems Thinking in Handling Social Conflict," the term could also mean "acts against one's opponent by creative, clever, unorthodox means, sometimes involving force multipliers or superior knowledge." That sounds like it could result in the type of twisty, mind-blowing thriller we love to see. And here's what the movie is about:

In the film, super spy Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) must track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology wielded by billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant). Reluctantly teamed with some of the world's best operatives (Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone), Fortune and his crew recruit Hollywood's biggest movie star Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett) to help them on their globe-trotting undercover mission to save the world.

As I've previously discussed, I love a ridiculous movie character name, and "Orson Fortune" is a perfectly ludicrous one, so that alone probably makes this worth seeing. Combine that with the fact that this has an excellent cast (Hugh Grant and Josh Hartnett rule across the board, and Aubrey Plaza in a Guy Ritchie movie? What does that look like?) and features a great meta connection about looping a movie star into this spy plot, and my interest is sufficiently piqued.

As for Ritchie himself, the director has had a spotty filmmaking record over the past few years. Since 2015, he's directed "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," which has a rabid cult following; the forgettable "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword"; Disney's billion-dollar-grossing live-action remake of "Aladdin," which is fine if you like that kind of thing; "The Gentlemen," which was roundly despised even by many longtime Ritchie fans; and "Wrath of Man," which seemed like it was going to be another trashy action movie but ended up being surprisingly solid.

"Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" will be in theaters on January 21, 2022.