Guy Ritchie's latest is getting underway. According to Deadline, the untitled action-thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal has begun filming in Alicante, Spain.
Along with the news of filming beginning came a round of cast announcements. "Warrior" star Dar Salim (pictured above) will star opposite Gyllenhaal as a local Afghan interpreter who risks his life for Gyllenhaal's U.S. sergeant character, John Kinley. In addition to Salim, the cast will also include Antony Starr ("The Boys"), Alexander Ludwig ("The Hunger Games"), Jason Wong ("The 355"), Sean Sagar ("The Gentlemen"), Emily Beecham ("Cruella"), and Bobby Schofield ("Anne"). The film comes hot on the heels of Ritchie's spy thriller "Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre," due out in theaters on March 18, 2022.
New Territory For Ritchie
The film will follow Gyllenhaal's Sgt. Kinley, who is on his last tour of duty in Afghanistan when his unit is ambushed on patrol and only he and his interpreter, Ahmed (Salim), survive. Ahmed carries an injured Kinley for miles, and is promised passage to America for himself and his family. Upon returning to the U.S., Kinley discovers that Ahmed is still stuck in Afghanistan, and so he returns to rescue his rescuer before the local militias can get to him. That sounds pretty intense for Ritchie, who usually makes big action crime capers, but color me intrigued. The movie may well have been inspired by true stories of U.S. military veterans who scrambled to help their Afghan allies evacuate after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2001.
This won't be Gyllenhaal's first time portraying a member of the military fighting in the Middle East; he starred as a Marine serving during the first Gulf War in Sam Mendes's 2005 drama "Jarhead." Spanish production company Fresco Films are helping on location in Alicante, which is doubling for Afghanistan. The script was co-written by Ivan Atkinson ("Wrath of Man") and Marn Davies ("The Gentlemen"). Ritchie and Atkinson are producing along with Josh Berger and John Friedberg for STXFilms. According to Deadline, STX has cut deals with MGM and Amazon prime for distribution, so we could see this having a Prime debut or dropping on Prime more quickly after the theatrical release.
Ritchie shared his excitement over Gyllenhaal's casting back in January:
"Jake Gyllenhaal is a fantastic talent. At last I have found a perfect project on which we can collaborate."
I'll be perfectly honest, I haven't seen a Guy Ritchie film since "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" in 2017, but between "Operation Fortune" and this untitled war film, I might be returning to the Ritchie fandom fold. Check out "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" when it hits theaters on March 18, 2022, and stay tuned on /Film for more updates on Ritchie's latest.
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