Alan Ritchson, Henry Cavill, and Eiza González in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

The likely box office failure of “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” is a letdown, yet it spares Henry Cavill and his fellow actors the task of making a potentially disheartening sequel. Guy Ritchie’s 2024 film, inspired by Damien Lewis’ 2014 book “Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII,” presents a dramatized account of Operation Postmaster from World War II. This operation involved the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in raids on Italian and German vessels in the Gulf of Guinea.

Henry Cavill portrays Gus March-Phillipps, the British military officer who established the SSRF. March-Phillipps was a key figure in the actual Operation Postmaster, which is reflected in Cavill’s leading role in this spy action comedy. Despite receiving favorable critiques, “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” has not made a significant impact at the U.S. box office, suggesting it will remain a standalone film with little chance for a sequel.

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare’s Box Office Likely Kills Any Hopes Of A Sequel Movie

The 2024 Spy Film Has Made Less Than $20 Million

 

Henry Cavill as Gus March-Phillipps in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Alan Ritchson as Anders Lassen aiming his bow and arrow in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Eiza González as Marjorie Stewart Holding A Machine Gun In The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare Henry Golding As Freddy Alvarez Smoking A Pipe and Holding Rope On A Sailboat in The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare
 Babs Olusanmokun as Mr. Heron Communicating On An SOS Transmitter In A Train Car In The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare

The 2024 spy action comedy movie’s opening weekend grossed $9 million, which wasn’t too surprising, given that it had a limited domestic release. However, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare‘s box office crashed in its second week in theaters — it dropped 70 percent and earned only $3.86 million the weekend of April 26. A 70 percent drop is almost unheard of, even for films with limited domestic releases, and as of the writing of this article, the movie has only grossed $19 million.

 

Based purely on those box office numbers, it seems very unlikely The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare will receive a sequel. Of course, its theatrical release is only part of the story, as Amazon Prime has the distribuion rights in other markets such as Canada and the U.K. If it performs particularly well there that could change things, but it remains a long shot right now. Leaving the story alone and not developing a second film is for the best though, because of what happened to Gus March-Phillipps after the events of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare’s Sequel Would Have Been Much Darker

Gus Was Killed In Action

Henry Cavill as Gus March-Phillipps in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare-1

While The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is much more light-hearted and comedic than most war films, a potential sequel would not be able to follow suit. A second movie would be expected to follow Gus March-Phillipps after Operation Postmaster, but he died less than a year later. After marrying Marjorie Stewart, the military hero was killed in action during Operation Aquatint, which featured March-Phillipps leading a group of 11 men in raiding the German-occupied French coastline on September 12, 1942. Sadly, the team was spotted by the Germans and all died, including March-Phillipps, who was shot while in the water.