Guy Ritchie’s new £125million film Operation Fortune – with a cast led by UK stars Hugh Grant and Jason Statham – has been pulled from release because it featured a group of gangsters Ukrainians.
The spy action thriller, which was filmed in 2020, was supposed to be released this spring but has disappeared from the schedules. I am told that the nationality of gangsters has now been removed.
A trailer, which can still be seen on YouTube, shows Statham, as a spy for Orson Fortune, realizing that a deadly weapon has been purchased by a Ukrainian crime syndicate.
The spy action thriller, which was filmed in 2020, was supposed to be released this spring but has disappeared from the schedules
“The Ukrainians? he says. “I can get inside the Ukrainians.”
His sidekick, played by actress Aubrey Plaza, quips: “I hope you take them to dinner first.” . .’
Sources close to the film say that out of sensitivity to the ongoing war, it was decided they had to lose the “detail” of the gang’s nationality.
They point out that the hug was always intended to be fictional entertainment and not a political statement; and that the project was simply overtaken by events. One added: “To be clear, there are a lot of bad guys in the movie.” . . the antagonists come from all over the world. But out of sensitivity to the ongoing war in Ukraine, it was decided that some of them should no longer be identified as Ukrainians.
The picture will now get a worldwide theatrical release at some point later in the year.
Ritchie’s film was certainly the victim of bad timing. An advertising campaign was ready and waiting to be launched; trailers were released; and posters printed in December last year.
However, as Russian troops began to mass on the border with Ukraine, the original release date (in January 2022) was pushed back to March. And on February 24, when Putin’s tanks entered Ukraine, this later date was also withdrawn, without explanation, by STX distributors.
A trailer, which can still be seen on YouTube, shows Statham, as a spy for Orson Fortune, realizing that a deadly weapon has been purchased by a Ukrainian crime syndicate.
The plot of the film, which bears the full title Operation Fortune: Ruse of War, concerns billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds. He is played by the very against type Hugh Grant as a permanently tanned, cigar-biting Cockney geezer. Jason Statham is our hero, Orson Fortune, who tries to stop Simmonds from selling a secret weapon.
The comedy mostly stems from Fortune’s idea of trying to reach Simmonds by introducing him to his movie star idol Danny Francesco, played by Josh Hartnett. Eddie Marsan and Cary Elwes also appear.
Since filming Operation Fortune, Ritchie has directed Jake Gyllenhaal in The Interpreter, about efforts to extract a military interpreter from Afghanistan. He’s also working on a TV version of his 2019 film, The Gentlemen, about a marijuana kingpin.
And it’s just been announced that he’ll be directing a live-action remake of Disney’s Hercules. He previously directed the remake of Aladdin, starring Will Smith as the genie.
Tom Felton – Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films – is having an exceptional year for business. This week, he installed a new attraction during the Warner Bros studio tour: Professor Sprout’s greenhouse.
He also wrote a “coming of age memoir” called Beyond The Wand, which will be released this fall and should be a big moneymaker. The book – the first from one of the ‘Potter children’ – will tell the story of his experiences on the set of Potter and include his account of the close friendships he formed with actress Emma Watson and other cast members. of distribution.
Felton, 34, has also made three films this year so far – and appears in the West End in 2.22: A Ghost Story.
The actor, who lives in London with his dog Willow, whips out T-shirts and music via Instagram to his fans. Oh, and he recently invested in a vegetarian company that makes the vegan pepperoni used by Papa Johns and Pizza Express.
Benoit Blanc, the southern gentleman detective played by Daniel Craig in Knives Out, is he a Beatles fan?
I ask because Netflix just unveiled the teasingly titled sequel to Knives Out — Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Glass Onion is the title of a track from The Beatles’ album White and was written to deliberately intrigue and annoy those who sought to find hidden meanings in the band’s lyrics. Paul McCartney once said, “Little legends grew up about every supposedly important item, so on this occasion we decided to plant one.”
Benoit Blanc, the southern gentleman detective played by Daniel Craig in Knives Out, is he a Beatles fan?
Meanwhile, director Rian Johnson tweeted about his love for Agatha Christie. The new film is set on a boat, like Christie’s Death On The Nile. In addition to Craig, the cast includes Kate Hudson, Edward Norton, Ethan Hawke and Dave Bautista.
The Staircase started out as a hit documentary before being turned into a super-prestige streaming drama starring Colin Firth and Toni Collette.
And it looks like a similar journey awaits another of the big lockdown hits: The Tinder Swindler. The two-hour documentary – about fraudster Shimon Hayut (above) and the women he scammed – is now being made into a feature by British Hollywood executive Stuart Ford, of leading independent studios AGC. Big names revolve around the project.
The Tinder Swindler is being made into a feature film by British Hollywood executive Stuart Ford
Simon Pegg is so low-maintenance that he bought his own props for Channel 4’s highly anticipated new drama The Undeclared War – miniature rugby balls, which his character squeezes when stressed.
Pegg said: “I got them from Amazon, didn’t charge for production, and have since given them to my dogs, Willow, Cookie and Myrtle, to chew on.” The actor plays GCHQ operations manager Danny Patrick in Peter Kosminsky’s six-part cyber-thriller.
Simon Pegg is so low maintenance he bought his own props for Channel 4’s highly anticipated new drama The Undeclared War
He added that director Kosminsky provides the actors with “incredibly detailed character profiles” which had Daniel as a former rugby player – hence the unusual stress balls.
Undeclared War begins on C4 at 9 p.m. next Thursday.
Working with legendary comedian Rowan Atkinson is serious business.
Atkinson, 67, directed a comedy series, Man Vs Bee, for Netflix and his co-stars and executives lined up to talk about his “obsessive” perfectionism and attention to detail.
Co-star Julian Rhind-Tutt observed: “He will try tiny variations of the simplest gesture 15 or 20 times. He was charming, but absolutely ruthlessly professional — and brilliantly obsessed with the smallest details to make something funny.
Tom Basden, who plays a cop on the show, which premieres today, said Atkinson is quite different from Ricky Gervais, who he worked with on After Life.
Atkinson, 67, directed a comedy series, Man Vs Bee, for Netflix and his co-stars and executives lined up to talk about his “obsessive” perfectionism and attention to detail.
“Rowan likes to plan and really think things through, especially when it comes to the physicality of the performance,” Basden said. “He is the complete opposite of Ricky Gervais, who is much more in the moment and follows his instincts.”
In Man Vs Bee, which consists of nine short episodes of about ten minutes each, Atkinson plays an unfortunate house-sitter, Trevor Bingley, who is plagued by a bee.
Director Kerr commented, “The most special effect of all was Rowan Atkinson’s face.”
Speaking this week, Atkinson said: “I’m a perfectionist, but I think that’s as much of a curse as a good quality.”
“When filming, I’m sure there’s something better that we didn’t understand in the take. There’s always something you can’t capture. It’s sad, really.
Does that make him another famous perfectionist, Tom Cruise? “That might be the only thing we have in common,” he said seriously.
Becoming Elvis took Butler months of work, including extensive sessions with movement and voice coaches before and during filming. However, his co-star Olivia DeJonge, a young Australian actress, seems to have had an easier time playing the king’s young bride, Priscilla, whom he met when she was 14.
DeJonge said, “A lot of what she is known for was hair and makeup. Honestly, hair and makeup are almost half of the character. Oh my God, the clothes! Attention to detail. The cup !
Becoming Elvis took months of work from Austin Butler, including extensive sessions with movement and singing coaches before and during filming.
‘All the suits were made by Prada to fit my body perfectly.
“Did I want to take them all home?” Yes I did it.
“Could I? Absolutely not.’
The film is in theaters today.
