Henry Cavill has had some mixed luck lately, which makes the underwhelming performance of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare all the more disappointing. Henry Cavill is a Hollywood heart throb who has played a range of incredible characters. From fantasy heroes, to spy thriller villains, and everything in between, Cavill is an absolute treasure who adds to any project that he is involved in. Likewise, Guy Ritchie has a track record for directing compelling action films.

However, when the pair teamed up, the resulting film got nowhere near the recognition it deserved. Instead, the film earned just shy of $27 million at the box office on its $60 million budget (via The Numbers), and it appears to have sailed under the radar. Both Cavill and Ritchie deserved more recognition, and the movie should have gotten a bigger reaction, but alas, not all movies are destined to make it big at the box office.

Guy Ritchie & Henry Cavill’s The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare Was Actually Really Good

This Should Have Been An All-Time Greatest Pairing

The thing is, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was really good. This thrilling action comedy film blended together genres with a masterful balance of tone, and an understanding of how comedy can compliment action as seen in Ritchie’s previous works like Sherlock Holmes, and Snatch. And the audience confirmed this with an astonishing 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes after the film was available on streaming services around the globe.

In addition, the cast was spectacular, with action star Alan Ritchson, the legendary Cary Elwes, and the dashing Alex Pettyfer rounding out the cast alongside Cavill. The result was a fresh and exciting take on a relatively unknown war story about a small elite group of soldiers working under Winston Churchill during World War II. However, there were several factors that led to the film not getting the recognition it deserved despite the high quality and incredible work both behind the camera and in front of it.

Why The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare Wasn’t A Bigger Success

There Were Some Clear Hurdles Ahead Of The Movie’s Release

Firstly, the movie had a very unusual approach to distribution that significantly impacted the box office potential earnings. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was actually projected to get a lower box office than it managed to earn due to the fact that it received a limited release in the US, and a plan to go straight to streaming platforms in the rest of the world. The result was that this movie did not get the fanfare it deserved, and the marketing push was extremely muted considering the movie would just be coming to Prime Video in the weeks after it hit theaters in America.

On top of that, when the movie did release in theaters, it received mixed reviews, which trended towards being mostly positive, but enough to make it that this was not going to be a top pick for what to watch in the theater. And finally, the film was released around the same time as Alex Garland’s Civil War, which meant that the movie was already competing for space and, with little to no marketing, there was no hope that it could take on a blockbuster release. Hopefully The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare can continue to find success on streaming, and get the recognition it deserves.