Henry Cavill And Alan Ritchson's Action War Movie Is A Netflix Hit After Bombing In Theaters

Over the last few years, the online comic book movie-loving community has made a big effort to get tough-as-nails "Reacher" star Alan Ritchson into the Batsuit as the Caped Crusader of James Gunn's DC Universe. Unfortunately, it feels all but confirmed that he won't be the new Batman, so the closest thing we'll get is when he shared the screen with the former Man of Steel in a WWII action movie from 2024.

"The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" is now available on Netflix and is directed by Guy Ritchie, known for films like "The Gentlemen" (which sparked a spin-off series) and Robert Downey Jr.'s "Sherlock Holmes" films. Skimming through the historical archives of WWII and giving it some heavily action-packed oomph, the movie explores the shockingly true story of a small band of soldiers who, under orders from Winston Churchill, were tasked with going behind enemy lines and creating chaos for Nazi forces during Operation Postmaster.

Ritchson plays Anders Lassen, a Danish soldier who was part of the operation under the command of Gustavus Henry March-Phillipps, aka Gus (Cavill). Joining him on these do-or-die adventures are Alex Pettyfer, Eiza González, Babs Olusanmokun, Cary Elwes, Henry Golding, and Hero Fiennes Tiffin, in what felt like Ritchie's take on classics like "The Dirty Dozen" or "The Wild Geese." It's a shame, then, that upon its initial release, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" was something of a turkey in theaters before quickly jumping to streaming.

Even with the praise it got from critics, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" box-office receipts unfortunately didn't line up. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie earned 68%, with the film being praised by Time Out for adhering to "The old Ritchie blueprint" of "charismatic lads having a laugh, blowing stuff up and nonchalantly dismissing calamities as 'a spot of bother.'" New York Post provided a similar verdict, calling it a "Point A to Point B journey that comes down to wisecracking blokes shooting Nazis."

Even so, something was clearly missing from Ritchie's WWII romp to break through at the box office, as the movie earned only $29.8 million against a $60 million budget. Admittedly, it faced varied competition at the time, with the likes of Alex Garland's "Civil War" and "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" still in cinemas. Less than a month after it hit theaters, the movie moved to video on demand on May 10. It got far more attention there, especially when it arrived internationally on Amazon Prime Video. Clearly, whatever sweet spot it found during its digital release has continued over on Netflix. According to FlixPatrol, the film has remained in the streaming service's top 10 movie ranking, trailing just behind "Top Gun: Maverick," proving that Ritchson at least has it in him to hang around just outside the Danger Zone.