With cameras just about ready to roll on The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (which, by all accounts, sounds like the most quintessentially Guy Ritchie film imaginable), the first trailer for the Brit director’s next(ish) one Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant comes as a bit of a surprise – not only since his last film, Operation Fortune: Ruse Du Guerre, is yet to see a release here (or in much of the world), but in that it’s not exactly typical Guy Ritchie fare, even with lashings of muscular action. Oh, and yes, his name actually is in the official title. Check out the trailer here:
No London. No geezers. No gangsters. No quips. No dodgy nicknames. The Gentlemen this most assuredly ain’t. Instead, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant – initially titled The Interpreter – looks like a tense, emotionally-driven military thriller that’s more concerned with the effects of war than the FX of it all.
Written by the Wrath Of Man director alongside regular collaborators Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, the story here centres on Jake Gyllenhaal’s Army Sergeant John Kinley, who ends up being rescued by his interpreter (Dar Salim) when a tour in Afghanistan is derailed by an IED. When Kinley learns that his saviour is now himself in danger and the US government will do nothing to intervene, he’s faced with the prospect of taking on the Taliban alone to rid himself of the figurative “hook” his experiences have left in him. The supporting cast includes Alexander Ludwig, Antony Starr, Jason Wong, Emily Beecham, and Christian Ochoa.
While The Covenant looks set to mark something of a tonal switch-up for its director from his previous works, for Gyllenhaal it’s an opportunity to further explore territory we’ve seen him tread in films like Brothers and Jarhead. Although there’s no UK release date set for this just yet – it’ll be out on 21 April in the States – we’re hopeful this won’t become another Operation Fortune (seriously, where the Donald Duck is that film?).