Home Movie News Guy Ritchie Unveils His ‘Operation Fortune’ Inspirations in New Video From Alamo Drafthouse [Exclusive]

Ritchie praises ‘The Hunt for Red October,’ ‘Crimson Tide,’ and more.

It’s been a long time coming, but Guy Ritchie’s darkly comedic espionage thriller Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is finally coming to theaters. Starring Jason Statham as the titular super-spy Orson Fortune, the film sees Fortune team with a group of skilled operatives and a Hollywood movie star for an undercover job to thwart a deal of deadly, technologically advanced armaments and save the world. Before Statham and company can sneak into theaters everywhere, Collider can exclusively unveil a new Alamo Drafthouse Guest Selects video where Ritchie explains his inspirations for his new film.

It’s no secret looking at Operation Fortune that Ritchie was aiming to capture the feel of the classic bombastic action-adventure film, but when it came to espionage, he looked to four films for guidance – The Hunt for Red October, Crimson Tide, Three Days of the Condor, and Where Eagles Dare. The former is considered an all-time classic in the genre for both its global stakes and high tension, both of which Ritchie loves. Though, more than anything he loves the performance by Sean Connery for how he carries the serious premise of the film forward. Crimson Tide, meanwhile, was a film Ritchie admits to being obsessed with when he first saw it in his younger years. A common thread between these films and Operation Fortune is global stakes. Ritchie loves espionage films where the world is in the balance, but he looks to Crimson Tide for how to create compelling characters that can be relatable even if they play the “villain” of the story like Gene Hackman’s Captain Frank Ramsey.

Ritchie likes Three Days of the Condor for two main reasons – Robert Redford and the tone of realism. He appreciated the contrast of espionage happening against the backdrop of an average world and action sequences that felt heavy for that very reason. Like with Red October, he loves his dynamic leading men, and it’s exactly he puts emphasis on the veteran Statham in Operation Fortune. Of all the films, however, it’s Where Eagles Dare that Ritchie says he wants to replicate for the simple reason that it felt big, it felt Hollywood with Clint Eastwood headlining, and it felt exotic. Again, that’s where Statham and the all-star cast come in – to help create a fun, escapist fantasy that anyone can come in and get lost in.

Image via Miramax

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Everything We Know About Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
Ritchie co-wrote Operation Fortune with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies. Statham has been the director’s leading man of choice for several films now, previously working with the actor on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and Wrath of Man, but Ritchie brought in some Hollywood firepower to surround him this time around. Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, and Bugzy Malone also star as the members of Fortune’s team, Hugh Grant as the billionaire arms dealer, and Josh Hartnett as the Hollywood movie star brought along for the ride. Originally slated for January 21, 2022, the film will finally get to show everything Ritchie learned from his favorite spy films on March 3.

Check out the exclusive Alamo Drafthouse video below to see the director discuss his Operation Fortune inspirations in depth: