Earlier, it was reported that Guy Ritchie will be helming a World War II film in which he also co-wrote. Now, MGM has revealed the trailer to another upcoming war film starring Jake Gyllenhaal titled Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant. The Covenant is more of a contemporary war movie that deals with a US Army outfit in Afghanistan and their conflict with the Taliban. Jake Gyllenhaal is joined by a cast that includes Dar Salim, Antony Starr, Alexander Ludwig, Bobby Schofield, with Emily Beecham and Jonny Lee Miller.
The official synopsis reads,
“Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant follows US Army Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Afghan interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim). After an ambush, Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save Kinley’s life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must repay his debt by returning to the war zone to retrieve them before the Taliban hunts them down first.”
Ritchie also co-writes this feature along with writers Ivan Atkinson & Marn Davies. The film is executive produced by Samantha Waite, Olga Filipuk, Robert Simonds, and Adam Fogelson. And it is produced by Ritchie along with Ivan Atkinson, John Friedberg, and Josh Berger. The film is brought to us by MGM films and STXfilms Entertainment.
It’s interesting to see Ritchie tackle more serious subjects as the director famously made a name for himself with aggressively stylized urban crime comedies with films like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, The Gentleman, and Wrath of Man. He reunited with Jason Statham for a heist caper comedy titled, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, however COVID would delay the film and then get delayed even further.
The director would also bring the Disney animated movie, Aladdin, into the live-action world back in 2019, and it has recently been announced that a sequel is underway with current controversial figure, Will Smith, set to return as the Genie of the lamp. Ritchie is a filmmaker who rarely dabbles in super-grounded drama, so to be exploring his career as a war movie director will definitely be an interesting venture into new territory.
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant is set to arrive in theaters on April 21.