‘The Gentlemen’  and ‘Lock, Stock’ filmmaker Guy Ritchie has been set to write and direct the WW2 action spy-thriller Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ for Paramount Pictures.

Described as part ‘Dirty Dozen part ‘Inglourious Basterds’, the movie is being adapted from the book ‘Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops’ by Damien Lewis. It tells the story of how Prime Minister Winston Churchill, his back up against the wall against the Nazi horde, created black ops team that could be let loose upon the enemy and that he could deny existed.  The group, populated by criminals and rogues, did dirty work in African and European locales, changing the course of the war.

Initially Paramount had discussed the idea of making this story into a franchise but this has not been confirmed as to whether they will take this direction.

Also in news – Edgar Wright set to direct Stephen King’s The Running Man’

Ivan Atkinson will executive produce. Vanessa Joyce, senior VP of production at the studio, will be overseeing the project for Paramount.

Ritchie was last back behind the camera on ‘The Gentlemen’ which saw him return to the form that made him a household name with the 1998 film ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’. He also directed Disney’s live-action Aladdin.