Guy Ritchie to write and direct World War II thriller

Guy Ritchie has reportedly signed up to write and direct a new World War II action thriller.

The 52-year-old filmmaker will helm the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which follows the true story of the U.K.'s first black ops unit, according to Deadline.

Ritchie will pen the script alongside Arash Amel, with Jerry Bruckheimer set to serve as a producer on the Paramount Pictures flick.

The war epic is based on the 2015 book Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops by British war historian and author Damien Lewis, and Paramount has had the rights to the book for almost six years.

The book chronicles the beginnings of special operations forces in the British army, created by then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who reportedly wanted to send a group of secret operatives to strike behind enemy lines during World War II.

Members were recruited to the Maid Honour Force and developed a close brotherly bond as they were cleared to break all conventions of warfare during their missions, and proved to be an effective tool against the advancing Nazis across Europe.

Ritchie shot to fame with his witty gangster drama Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels back in 1998, and went on to direct movies including Snatch, Sherlock Holmes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Disney's live-action Aladdin, which grossed more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

The director is currently reuniting with Jason Statham, who he first worked with on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, on the upcoming spy thriller Five Eyes, which is in production now.