Henry Cavill led the cast of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare playing a heavily fictionalized version of Major Gus March-Phillipps. The Guy Ritchie movie follows an exaggerated take on WWII secret agents sent to destroy Nazi U-boats. The action-comedy war film finally hits streaming in the UK, but fans have one big complaint about that.
According to Independent, a string of social media users were surprised to find the historical-comedy film to be on their Amazon Prime subscription and never saw the light of day on the UK’s big screens. One X user expressed their frustration over Guy Ritchie’s latest movies getting direct-to-streaming treatment:
Will Guy Ritchie EVER make a film that sees the inside of UK Cinemas again? 2019's Aladdin grossed $1.04bn so OBVIOUSLY His four most recent movies - Wrath of Man, Operation Fortune, The Covenant, & now The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare have all gone straight to streaming…
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was a big hit among those who screened it. Fans found it very entertaining for its comedy and compared it to Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds which also presented an excessive take on historical events. Despite the fact that the movie has a British cast and crew, it only had a US theatrical release and went direct to streaming in the UK.
The recent releases of the best Guy Ritchie movies have been taken hold by Amazon Prime for a UK audience, but released in theaters internationally. His Disney live-action remake Aladdin passed the $1 billion mark in theaters worldwide. It’s possible the Disney remake likely got a theatrical release compared to streaming because audiences of all ages would want to see the first live-action version of a Disney classic. With the marketing in the US being different than in the UK, maybe studios felt Ritchie’s movies would reach a larger audience on streaming platforms compared to theaters.
While streaming services have the power to give us a large amount of entertainment content available at our fingertips, there’s still nothing like going to a theater. Another social media user gave a heartbreaking response to The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare never being released in British theaters:
Had a lot of fun with Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, now on @primevideouk Shame we never got it at the cinema here, would have liked to take my Dad.
I can understand the frustration of wanting to have a movie night with your dad compared to seeing the flick cooped up at home. Some movies deserve a theater-going experience, like feeling like you're in the cockpit with Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, or chasing tornados with Glen Powell in Twisters, which both were moneymakers at the box office.
Like Tom Hanks said, the COVID-19 pandemic saw a “sea of change” in the movie theater industry with more movies being made for our TVs at home and so many people getting subscription services. It’ll increase the chances of a larger audience without having to leave home or worry about the showtime being sold out. At the same time, there’s still nothing like a movie night in front of a giant screen taking in the reactions of audiences around you.
People in the U. may have heard about The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare through seeing Henry Cavill’s trippy mustache in the trailer, but not everyone in the UK.knew about this movie until finding it on Amazon Prime, like this X post pointed out:
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare .... been looking forward to this. Did it get a cinema release? as I didn't hear about till amazon prime started advertising it #TheMinistryOfUngentlemanlyWarfare #AmazonPrime
It is strange to see a new movie premiere as part of your streaming schedule without realizing it hit theaters first in other areas. At the same time, that could be another benefit to having access to the best streaming services in giving you films that weren’t released in your country. One more X post praised Henry Cavill’s latest flick and felt it would have done well in theaters:
As Henry Cavill rightly said The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is essentially British. A worldwide release would have brought in $$$ I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.
Theatrical releases are incredibly beneficial to studios. Box office sales can help determine what people will pay to see, are necessary for awards eligibility, and helps when determining if the movie warrants a sequel. However, streaming services provide benefits of their own in reaching a massive audience of subscribers, getting a good idea of viewer analytics, and reducing the costs of marketing and distribution. Henry Cavill certainly didn’t hold back his response on Instagram to the streaming news of his movie:
While it’s great news that The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare hit Amazon Prime streaming in the UK, a lot of British fans had a big complaint about not getting a theatrical release in their home country as the US did. At least with the accessibility of streaming services, these praised movies will not go unnoticed and eventually get the audience it deserves. And at least the UK has dibs on streaming the Guy Ritchie movie, unlike the U.S. at the moment.
There’s no word yet if the next Henry Cavill/Guy Ritchie collaboration In the Grey will get a UK theatrical release, but you can check with our 2025 movie releases for the latest updates on what’s hitting theaters and your streaming providers. Your Apple TV+ subscription will also get another upcoming movie of Ritchie’s starring John Krasinski and Natalie Portman called Fountain of Youth, which streams next year.
