Summary

• Jason Statham's absence in Guy Ritchie's new film "In the Grey" signals a potential shift in Ritchie's casting tendencies.
• Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal have emerged as key collaborators with Ritchie in recent blockbusters.
• Statham's success with David Ayer may indicate that he has moved on from Ritchie as well.

Guy Ritchie's upcoming action thriller In the Grey, which saw its trailer released at Cinemacon in April 2024, will feature two actors who appear to be potential replacements for Jason Statham as Ritchie's go-to action star. Most of Guy Ritchie's best movies fall within the action, crime, or thriller subgenres, and as a result Ritchie has worked with some of the top action stars in Hollywood. One such actor is Jason Statham, who has starred in five Guy Ritchie films in his career, including one of Ritchie's most widely-celebrated, Snatch.

While Statham starred in a Guy Ritchie film as recently as 2023, the star-studded cast list for In the Grey does not include Statham, even in a minor role. It's an indication that Ritchie may have moved on from using Statham consistently in his action movies, as In the Grey includes two stars who Ritchie has used in major blockbusters in the last two years. The action thriller is set to have Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill sharing the spotlight when it debuts in 2025, and Cavill in particular seems to be forging a strong professional relationship with Ritchie.

Henry Cavill & Jake Gyllenhaal's In The Grey Roles Continue Their Guy Ritchie Collaborations

Both actors have starred in Guy Ritchie blockbusters within the last two years.

Both Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal have collaborated with Guy Ritchie on at least one major blockbuster within the last two years. Gyllenhaal starred in the 2023 action drama The Covenant as Green Beret master sergeant John Kinley. While not based on a true story, The Covenant was inspired by actual events that occurred in the course of the United States' army's battle against the Taliban in the late 2010s. While the film largely focuses on Kinley's bond with his Afghan interpreter Ahmed, it was still loaded with the high-quality action that Ritchie is well-known for.

After starring in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Eiza Gonzalez is set to star in two upcoming Guy Ritchie films, In the Grey and Fountain of Youth, indicating she has become one of Ritchie's new go-to actors, like Statham used to be.

Henry Cavill collaborated with Guy Ritchie on two occasions prior to In the Grey. Cavill starred in Ritchie's 2015 spy film The Man From U.N.C.L.E. which, while a box office bomb, yielded a demand for the British actor to take on the role of James Bond. Cavill's second collaboration with Guy Ritchie is The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, in which Cavill plays the role of real-world English special operative Gus March-Phillipps. Henry Cavill's first WWII movie is loaded with explosive action, even though it is a heavily fictionalized version of the real Operation Postmaster in WWII.

Jason Statham's In The Grey Absence Shows Guy Ritchie Has Replaced Him

Statham is no longer a staple of Guy Ritchie's biggest movies.

Jason Statham was a frequent collaborator with Ritchie in the early 2000s, and starred in two of the movies that established Ritchie as one of the leading action and crime movie directors in Hollywood, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. After not working with Ritchie for more than a decade, Statham made two movies with the English director in 2021 (Wrath of Man) and 2023 (Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre), although neither made much impact with critics or at the domestic box office.

In the Grey figures to be a major blockbuster given the caliber of its cast, which also includes Eiza Gonzalez and Rosamund Pike, so seeing Jason Statham left off the cast list indicates that Guy Ritchie may no longer see him as his go-to British action star. Henry Cavill has established himself in that role for more directors than just Ritchie, and seeing Ritchie use him in yet another action movie points to him being the Statham replacement. It remains to be seen if Ritchie uses Statham in any of his movies beyond In the Grey, but either way, his omission from the 2025 action movie is conspicuous.

Guy Ritchie & Jason Statham's Last Movie Together Was A Box Office Bomb

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre had a loaded cast, but made almost no impression on audiences.

While Ritchie and Statham have collaborated on some major box office hits, particularly Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, their most recent movie, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, was a true bomb. The 2023 movie was a spy action comedy in the vein of movies like Kingsman: The Secret Service of the more recent Argylle, but it fell completely flat at the box office. While Statham starred in the film, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre also featured Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett, Cary Elwes and Hugh Grant.

Part of that failure was due to the film's release schedule being altered, as the studio reportedly didn't want to feature the film's Ukrainian gangsters in light of global outrage surrounding the Russo-Ukrainian War. Critical reviews for Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre were still lukewarm at best, indicating it wouldn't have been a massive box office surprise. When it was released on Amazon Prime Video, it didn't make a significant impact either, further cementing its lack of overall appeal.

Jason Statham May Have Found His Guy Ritchie Replacement Too

Statham made a box office hit with another action director with franchise potential.

Guy Ritchie may have moved on from Statham, but it's possible that Statham has found his own new go-to director. Statham starred in David Ayer's surprise critical hit The Beekeeper, which was a $140M box office success. While no sequel has been announced, The Beekeeper's total box office pull on just a $40M budget points to the potential for a franchise similar to Keanu Reeves' John Wick or Denzel Washington's The Equalizer. The action thriller proved that Statham works perfectly within the confines of David Ayer's style, and they're already collaborating again in 2025 with Levon's Trade.

While the recently announced casting of In the Grey points to a potential shift in the professional relationship between Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham, it's entirely possible that the two will move forward with other projects in the future. There was nearly a 16-year gap between the release of Revolver (2005) and Ritchie and Statham's next collaboration, Wrath of Man (2021), so Ritchie not casting Statham in In the Grey project doesn't necessarily close the door entirely. However, for at least the next couple of years, Statham and Ritchie will likely go their separate ways within action cinema.