Operation Fortune: release date, reviews, trailer and everything we know about the Guy Ritchie movie

Operation Fortune
Aubrey Plaza, Jason Statham and Bugzy Malone in Operation Fortune (Image credit: Daniel Smith/Miramax Films)

One of the signature directors of the action genre right now, Guy Ritchie has a brand new movie, Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre.

Ritchie doesn't wait too long to dive right into things with his films, so we're not going to drag things out too much here. Here is everything we know about Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre (just Operation Fortune from here on out).

Operation Fortune release date

Following a nearly year-long delay, Operation Fortune arrives exclusively in movie theaters on March 3.

Operation Fortune was expected to be released on March 18, 2022, but it was pulled from the calendar by then distributor STX. It is believed the movie was pulled because it featured Ukrainian mobsters, something the producers didn't want to highlight in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, per The Wrap.

Operation Fortune plot

Save for the filmmaker's live action version of Aladdin, practically all Guy Ritchie movies take place in the world of crime and/or spies. Operation Fortune continues that playbook.

Here is the official synopsis:

"Super spy Orson Fortune must track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology wielded by billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds. Reluctantly teamed with some of the world’s best operatives, Fortune and his crew recruit Hollywood’s biggest movie star Danny Francesco to help them on their globe-trotting undercover mission to save the world."

Operation Fortune

Jason Statham, Josh Hartnett and Aubrey Plaza in 'Operation Fortune' (Image credit: Daniel Smith/Miramax Films)

Operation Fortune cast

Headlining it all is Jason Statham as Orson Fortune. Statham has worked with Ritchie multiple times, including in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and Wrath of Man. Throughout his career, Statham has shown he has both the action and comedy down pat, and you typically need a healthy dose of both for a Guy Ritchie movie.

Another recent Ritchie collaborator appearing in Operation Fortune is Hugh Grant, playing the billionaire arms dealer Greg Simmonds. Grant has previously appeared in Ritchie movies The Gentlemen and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and here it looks like he is getting the chance to give another delectable turn as a villain.

Bugzy Malone, who also appeared in The Gentlemen, is another actor reteaming with Ritchie.

The main cast also features a trio of newcomers to the Ritchie filmography — Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes and Josh Hartnett. Elwes (The Princess Bride) and Plaza (The White Lotus) will be part of the team working with Statham's Fortune, while Hartnett (Black Hawk Down) is set to play the movie star Danny Francesco that is recruited to help in their mission.

Operation Fortune trailer

A brand new release date means a brand new trailer for Operation Fortune. Check it out right here:

You can also watch the trailer released prior to the movie's planned 2022 release below:

Operation Fortune reviews — what the critics are saying

For better or worse, the latest collaboration between Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham is standard fare, according to What to Watch's Operation Fortune review, which touts the movie's ability to give fans what they want in an enjoyable package, even if there's nothing particular new about it.

When looking at the general consensus of the action movie, as of March 1 it has a "Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes of 62%.

How long is Operation Fortune

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre clocks in with a runtime of one hour and 54 minutes.

What is Operation Fortune rated?

Operation Fortune has an R rating in the US for language and violence.

Operation Fortune director Guy Ritchie

We may have mentioned it a couple times already, but Operation Fortune will be directed by Guy Ritchie. Ritchie is almost a genre unto himself, with a list of credits that include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, RocknRolla, the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movies, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Gentlemen, among others.

Ritchie's movies are defined by their high energy action and dialogue that make for a fun concoction. He's also been very prolific in recent years. Operation Fortune is Ritchie's first of two 2023 new movies, with The Covenant starring Jake Gyllenhaal the other. He is also working on a TV series based on The Gentlemen that is coming to Netflix.

Operation Fortune

(Image credit: STX Films)
Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.