Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare finally gets an international release – via Prime Video

Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare had a short run in theaters in the United States. It only grossed about $26 million, and never played theaters outside of the U.S. In fact, the film, which is now on 4K Blu-ray in the States never got any kind of release at all internationally. What gives?

It all has to do with how the film was financed, with Prime Video having a deal for international rights across Europe, Latin America, ANZ, Canada, South Africa, India, and pan-Asian PayTV. The film is now finally set for a Prime Video release, with it premiering on July 25th, more than three months after the movie played U.S theaters. Prime Video Canada and its international subsidiaries made the unheralded announcement on Twitter (X).

Given the precarious state of the movie business, it’s likely more films will get these kinds of financing deals, with Netflix’s Hit Man recently absent from the streaming service in Canada due to VVS having bought the theatrical and home video rights before it played the festival circuit. But at least VVS could get the film released around the same time it hit Netflix (it opened in Canada a few weeks earlier).

For League of Ungentlemanly Warfare, fans who would have bought a ticket to see this movie got the shaft, with no one transparent (at all) about when the film would finally hit international screens. As such, the movie has likely been pirated to death, thus making its ultimate debut on Prime Video rather anti-climactic. Ritchie’s next film, In the Grey, which reteams him with Ungentlemanly Warfare stars Henry Cavill and Eiza Gonzalez (along with Jake Gyllenhaal), was financed in a similar way, although it seems like it will be getting an international theatrical release. A recent Mark Wahlberg movie, Arthur the King, which was also distributed by Lionsgate in the US has yet to receive a Canadian release.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare:

“Based upon recently declassified files of the British War Department and inspired by true events, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is an action-comedy that tells the story of the first-ever special forces organization formed during WWII by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a small group of military officials including author Ian Fleming. The top-secret combat unit, composed of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks, goes on a daring mission against the Nazis using entirely unconventional and utterly “ungentlemanly” fighting techniques. Ultimately, their audacious approach changed the course of the war and laid the foundation for the British SAS and modern Black Ops warfare.”

What do you think about this trend? If you live outside the United States, are you upset about watching Ritchie’s new film at home instead of in a theater? Let us know in the comments section below.