Lionsgate to Release Guy Ritchie’s Action Comedy ‘Operation Fortune’ in U.S.

Check your local listings to find it in a theater near you.It heads to Amazon Prime on March 7 in the UK.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.As the title “Ruse de guerre” (ruse of war) suggests, there’s plenty of scheming.

Guy Ritchie‘s new movie Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is now in theaters and lots of fans are ready for an action-comedy to be back in the cinema.

Television might have more highly anticipated releases coming out in March, but the film world certainly isn’t slacking with an eclectic lineup that samples from a bit of every genre. There are superheroes in two ways, from the standard DC and major studio format to the bizarre with “Smoking Causes Coughing.” Multiple tough-to-watch coming-of-age stories have made the rounds on the festival circuit as well as high-profile science fiction films looking to attract a larger audience.

2019’s “The Gentlemen,” he’d have the usually dapper Hugh Grant play a sleazy journalist who refers to England only as “Angleterre” in an East End accent, and in 2021’s “Wrath of Man” he showcased frequent collaborator Jason Statham’s ability to switch from hilarious to killing machine.With this director, we’re never so much watching an espionage or crime movie as enjoying another off-the-rails Guy Ritchie attraction. That is, until “Operation Fortune,” the co-writer and director’s most uninspired movie in a minute. Lazily bopping around to exotic locales like Cannes, France, Antalya, Turkey, and Doha, Qatar, it’s a generic collage of mega-yachts, luxe hotels, fancy parties, disguised identities and tame fights that add up to a big nothing.Worry not about your blood pressure at “Ruse de guerre.” One chase scene in sunny Antalya, with actor Max Beesley on a vespa, is downright soothing.

This is one killer lottery.

What’s next for Paul Feig after directing “The School For Good And Evil” last year? It’s “Grand Death Lotto,” an action-comedy for Prime Video with a pretty dark premise. In the near future, California starts a Grand Lottery to help with its economic challenges, albeit with a catch: if anyone kills the winner before sundown, they get to collect the massive multi-billion dollar prize.

In the very near future, the Grand Lottery has been established in economically challenged California. The only catch? Kill the winner before sundown and you can legally claim their prize. New LA transplant Katie (Awkwafina) accidentally finds herself with the winning ticket and must join forces with amateur jackpot protector Noel (Cena) to make it to sundown in order to claim her multi-billion dollar prize, all while dealing with Noel’s protection rival Louis Lewis (Liu), who also wants to get her to sundown in order to claim his rich protection commission.The Amazon Original Movie will be available to stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

DGA Award winner and 5x Emmy nominee Paul Feig has found a stellar trio to lead his new action-comedy Grand Death Lotto for Amazon Studios in John Cena (Peacemaker), Awkwafina (Renfield) and Simu Liu (Barbie).

When a movie gets tangled up in all kinds of financial problems, delayed for over a year, played out internationally, sent straight to streaming in Canada, and then finally getting the green light to open in the U.S. via a new distributor and thrown into theaters with virtually no notice or time to mount a marketing campaign, you have to think there must be something very wrong here.

When it comes to the genre playgrounds he loves so much, is Guy Ritchie better off being himself or playing along? His brash, bad-lad calling cards (“Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Snatch”) were never terribly original, but their style-to-burn derivativeness had spirit. His Hollywood larks (“Sherlock Holmes,” “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”) never felt honest but the occasional glimpse of a bruiser’s cockiness made for colorful upgrades in the IP machinery.After Ritchie’s return to leaner (but never in the dialogue) roots with the comically shaggy, seedy gangster wingding “The Gentlemen,” and reteaming with his best contribution to cinema — Jason Statham — for the brackish vengeance puddle “Wrath of Man,” the British filmmaker is once again aiming for sleek and starry heights with the spy-driven action comedy “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre.”Statham is the “Fortune” of the title, first name Orson, an elite for-hire operative with clever ideas and expensive tastes, hired by intelligence agency rep Nathan (Cary Elwes) to determine who’s interested in a stolen package rumored to be worth $10 billion on the open market.

Audiences know Guy Ritchie can direct action, they know he can write quotable, pithy dialogue, and they know he can create memorable characters. However, for the most part, “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” either fails to deliver or under-delivers on almost all fronts.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic For 25 years, I have never been much of a Guy Ritchie fan. I found the in-your-face-and-over-the-top crime dramas that made his reputation — “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Snatch,” “Revolver,” and “RocknRolla” — to be empty-flashy exercises in the too-muchness of genre kinetics, overly infatuated with their post-Tarantino cutthroat cool. It was clear that Ritchie had talent, but the way just about every shot in his movies was designed to remind you of that turned the films into layer cakes that were more frosting than cake. After a while, he dropped the badass glitz and settled into a more conventional career, and some of those movies were okay. I confess that I enjoyed his remake of “Swept Away” (yes, the one with Madonna), and he had fun applying what was left of his high-froth ADD style to the Robert Downey Jr. “Sherlock Holmes” franchise. Yet I could never escape the feeling that Guy Ritchie had trapped himself on a hamster wheel of trying too hard. I’ve liked a few of his films. But I’ve never loved one.

Julia MacCary editor “Better Call Saul” actor Bob Odenkirk, “Pitch Perfect” star Anna Kendrick and acclaimed comedians Chelsea Handler and Eric André are among the lineup South by Southwest (SXSW) announced for its upcoming comedy festival. The comedy festival will include improv, stand-up showcases, live podcast recordings and conversations. In addition to Odenkirk, Kenrick, André and Handler, the comedy lineup features Abbi Jacobson, Adrienne Iapalucci, Andre Hyland, Anthony Atamanuik, Anthony DeVito, Aristotle Athari, Beth Stelling, Brian Moses, Caitlin Peluffo, Caleb Hearon, Christina Catherine Martinez, Doug Benson, Eddie Pepitone, Emma Willmann, Felipe Esparza, Godfrey, Greg Proops, Ismael Loutfi, Jackie Fabulous, Jake Johnson, James Adomian, Jessica McKenna, Joe DeRosa, John Gemberling, Josh Johnson, Joyelle Johnson, Katherine Blanford, Leonard Maltin, Matt Besser, Mike Lawrence, Natalie Palamides, Nick Thune, Patton Oswalt, Pete Lee, Phoebe Robinson, Rachel Sennott, Reggie Watts, Sabrina Jalees, Sam Jay, Sam Tallent, Sandy Honig, Steve Agee, Steph Tolev, Stuart Goldsmith, Tim Robinson, Todd Barry, Tone Bell and Yamaneika Saunders.

For years now, we’ve been seeing reports of movement on another sequel to Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” film franchise. But with all the talk of development, we have yet to see anything official that would suggest that Robert Downey, Jr.

SZA is set to release 10 unheard songs as part of a deluxe version of her chart-topping new album ‘SOS’.The long-awaited album, which was the singer’s first in half a decade and followed 2017’s ‘Ctrl’ upon release in December, was greeted with critical acclaim (including five stars from NME) and broke a seven-year chart record in the US this week by celebrating its ninth week at Number One in the US.SZA recently hinted at a future collaboration with Miley Cyrus, after she teased future “surprises” for fans and hinted at a forthcoming deluxe edition of the new album.Now, Billboard have confirmed that a deluxe edition of the new album is coming, and that it will feature 10 unheard songs.This week, SZA kicked off her North American arena tour this week, debuting ‘SOS’ songs and covering Erykah Badu at gigs in Columbus, Ohio and Chicago.At the first show of the tour in Columbus, SZA gave live debuts to ‘SOS’ tracks ‘PSA’, ‘Seek & Destroy’, ‘Notice Me’, ‘Conceited’, ‘Gone Girl’, ‘Kill Bill’ and more as part of a mammoth 32-song setlist that also saw her cover Badu’s ‘Bag Lady’ and perform her Kendrick Lamar (‘All The Stars’) and Doja Cat (‘Kiss Me More‘) collaborations.See the full list of tour dates and buy your tickets here. Omar Apollo is set to open for SZA on all dates.SZA plays the following:FEBRUARY 202325 – Toronto, ON, Scotiabank Arena27 – Washington, DC, Capital One Arena28 – Boston, MA, TD GardenMARCH 2023 02 – Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center04 – New York, NY, Madison Square Garden07 – Atlanta, GA, State Farm Arena09 – Austin, TX, Moody Center10 – Dallas, TX, American Airlines Center13 – San Diego, CA, Viejas Arena14 – Oakland, CA, Oakland Arena16 – Seattle, WA, Climate Pledge Arena18 – Portland, OR, Moda

a briliant binge of comedy horror.” Here’s what you need to know about the movie, which is directed by Elizabeth Banks and stars Keri Russell, Ray Liotta and O’Shea Jackson Jr.It was released on Friday, Feb. 24 by Universal Pictures.Like other Universal, DreamWorks, Illumination, and Focus Films, it will stream exclusively on Peacock within four months of its theatrical debut.

The Housewives are taking over Thailand!

Those familiar with stand-up comedy know Bert Kreischer as a hard-partying, tall tale-telling, and often shirtless comic who’s good friends with Bill Burr and Tom Segura. He’s loud, rowdy, and otherwise known as “The Machine,” a nickname which may be Kreischer’s most infamous bit.

The trailer for Guy Ritchie‘s new action-comedy has been released!

Christopher Vourlias The war in Ukraine has taken center stage this week at the Berlin Film Festival, which is taking place for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion last year. At Thursday’s opening ceremony, Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelenskyy appeared via satellite to encourage festival-goers “not to remain silent” over Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression. Sean Penn, who this week premiered his docu-portrait of the Ukrainian leader, “Superpower,” lashed out at Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, who he described as a “war criminal” and a “creepy little bully.” Moral outrage has not been in short supply since the start of the war, as the global film community — in a show of near unanimous condemnation of the Kremlin’s criminal attack — has rallied behind the Ukrainian war effort. But many U.S. and foreign companies quietly continue to do business with Putin’s pariah state or have resumed the deal-making that was put on pause once the war began.