Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre Release Date, Cast, And More

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Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie collaborations go way, way back. Statham first got his start in Richie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" back in 1998 and the two have teamed up multiple times since then, including "Snatch" in 2000, "Revolver" five years later, and most recently "Wrath of Man." It seems have worked out for both actor and director up to this point, so why fix what clearly isn't broken? 

The pair will team up once again with "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" (formerly known as "Five Eyes"). Check out the details below for everything you need to know about the next Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham flick.

"Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" was initially announced in September 2020 under a different title and with a to-be-announced release date. Things change in a hurry, however, as the film is now set for a theatrical release on January 21, 2022.

"Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" is a bit of a mouthful, especially compared to its original name of "Five Eyes" — which has its own drawbacks, in fairness, primarily by sounding too much like a certain burger chain. I can already tell I'll be having trouble typing out the full title of "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" without the use of copy/paste (I just did it again there!), so please keep me in your thoughts during this very difficult time.

But if you're wondering what "ruse de guerre" even means in the first place, I've got you covered there. It's apparently a French term that translates to "ruse of war," which certainly provides an intriguing hint at the plot. If you need more concrete details, the film has been described as:

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.

Guy Ritchie has enjoyed an interesting career, mostly spending his early years in low-to-mid budget features before dabbling in blockbuster filmmaking to, well, mixed results. After "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," "Snatch," and "Sherlock" helped land him on the map, and the infamous flop of "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" threatened to undo all that progress, Ritchie landed on his feet with Disney's "Aladdin" and 2019's divisive "The Gentlemen." He's now in the midst of post-production for "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre."

The screenplay was written by previous Ritchie collaborators Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies ("The Gentlemen") with revisions by Ritchie himself. Atkinson is also attached as a producer, as is Miramax CEO Bill Block.

As mentioned before, Statham and Ritchie just can't quit each other — and we don't blame them. Jason Statham leads the cast of "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" as the simply brilliantly-named Orson Fortune, whom I can only picture saying it the same exact way that James Bond introduces himself. He'll be joined by Aubrey Plaza, Hugh Grant, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone, and Josh Hartnett. I have no idea what to expect from a cast like that in a Guy Ritchie movie, but I'm looking forward to finding out.