HBO’s Guy Ritchie-Inspired Thriller Officially Becomes a Streaming Sensation
Denis is a news writer for Collider with close to five years of experience in the industry. He has analyzed shows across different genres, formats and styles. His favorite types of articles to write are exciting news updates and episodic deep-dives. He might say he doesn't have a favorite show, but he has watched The Wire, Shameless, The Big Bang Theory, and The Blacklist more than once. Denis is increasingly becoming focused on the global streaming arena and how media connects with audiences in various markets. Find him on X tweeting about something random that occurred to him about a TV show or the industry in general.
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Guy Ritchie's shows and movies have an unmistakable quality that makes viewers realize, "yes, Guy made this." His shows have a distinct tone marked by fast-paced dialogue, wit, sarcasm, and, when the moment calls for it, stylistic violence. His recent projects, such as The Gentlemen, Young Sherlock, and even MobLand, have exemplified these traits, elevating him to the level of those creators fans would follow anywhere because they know what to expect.
This year has been great for Ritchie, especially on television. His TV projects have been a massive success, even as movies have struggled at the box office. Still, the movies have seen decent traction on streaming. The writer-director has already set his next project at Netflix, which reunites him with his constant collaborator, Jason Statham. Dogfight is set in London's criminal underworld and will be in production in 2027. In fact, most of Ritchie's projects are still far away, but HBO recently debuted a legal thriller that perfectly captures Ritchie's style and is ideal for fans craving more fast-paced stories.
This show isn't set in the criminal world, but it is no less dangerous. Set in London, War follows a couple through a rocky divorce. Dominic West plays Morgan Henderson, a billionaire whose marriage to Hollywood actor Carla Duval (Sienna Miller) is coming to an end. However, the real war is between the firms handling their respective divorces, Cathcarts & Sons and Taylor & Byrne. Beyond doing what's best for their clients, the lawyers at both firms have histories and scores to settle, so this is not just a divorce. The writing is sharp and funny, while the narrative is fast-paced and twisty. War has become a streaming hit since it launched on October 1. The series is ranked second by FlixPatrol at the time of writing, but rises to number one when new episodes premiere.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Agatha Christie Character Are You? Poirot · Marple · Ariadne Oliver · Hastings
Answer eight quick questions and we will tell you which one you are. Christie is the best selling novelist in history and she only ever needed about four kinds of person to do it, all of whom are still turning up on screen a century later.
🥚Poirot(33 novels)
🧶Miss Marple(12 novels)
🍎Ariadne Oliver(8 novels)
🎖Hastings(8 novels)
01
How tidy is your home? Pick the one that sounds most like you.
02
How would your friends describe you? Be honest.
03
How do you work out what somebody is really like? One answer only.
04
Pick a snack. No wrong answers here.
05
How do you handle a long train journey? Pick the closest answer.
06
How do you feel about being underestimated? Pick the closest answer.
07
What is your role in a group project? Think about work.
08
How would you want to be described in a book? Last one. This is the one that decides it.
The Drawing Room, After Dinner You Are…
Toni Collette and Kit Harington are shooting a new Miss Marple and 20th Century has several more Christies in development, so the drawing room is busier than it has been in decades. Here is which of them you are, and the case for yours being the best.
Hercule Poirot
Order, method, and a quiet confidence that you are the cleverest person present. Poirot is a retired Belgian police officer who solves murders by sitting still and thinking, and who is vain enough to make the reveal a performance every single time.
- You need things to be in their right place and you are not remotely sorry about it.
- David Suchet played him for twenty four years and filmed every single Poirot story Christie wrote.
- Kenneth Branagh has made three as director and star, from Orient Express in 2017 to A Haunting in Venice.
- Your flaw is that the performance of being right can get in the way of simply being helpful.
Miss Marple
People tell you things because they cannot imagine you being a threat. Marple solves murders by comparing everybody to somebody she once knew in St Mary Mead, which sounds like a joke until you notice it works every time, because human beings are not as original as they think.
- You are the quietest person in the room and you leave knowing the most.
- Joan Hickson is still the definitive television Marple, and Christie herself wrote to her hoping she would one day play the part.
- Toni Collette and Kit Harington are making a new Marple film, announced this summer.
- Your risk is that people only work out how formidable you are once it is far too late.
Ariadne Oliver
You have far too many ideas and roughly a fifth of them are excellent. Ariadne Oliver is a successful crime novelist who is sick of her famous foreign detective and keeps saying so, which is Christie writing about Christie and getting away with it completely.
- You think out loud, change your mind twice, and arrive somewhere nobody else would have found.
- She was Christie's own stand-in, right down to being tired of the detective who made her rich.
- Tina Fey played her opposite Branagh in A Haunting in Venice and gave her the comic timing the part always wanted.
- Your flaw is that fourteen ideas take as long to sort through as they do to have.
Captain Hastings
You are steady, decent and the reason the difficult genius has anybody at all. Hastings narrates the early Poirot novels, misses most of the clues, and is the only character in the books that Poirot is unambiguously fond of, which tells you what he is really for.
- You are the one who turns up, which sounds small and is not.
- Christie gave him the narrator role so readers would have somebody to be as lost as they were.
- Hugh Fraser played him across the ITV series and made him warm rather than slow, which earlier versions never managed.
- Your weakness is taking people at their word, which is lovely right up until it is not.
Who Is Behind 'War?'
George Kay created the series, which he also writes and executive-produces. His Apple TV thriller Hijack became one of the streamer's most-watched shows, while Lupin returned for Season 4 and is currently Netflix's most-watched show. Kay's next thriller, The Wanted Man, premieres on Apple TV next year. Phoebe Fox (Serena) and James McArdle (Nicholas) play the romantic and business partners behind Taylor & Byrne, which also employs Archie Renaux (Jonathan Warren). Nina Sosanya (Beatrice) and Pip Torrens (St. John) are on the other side, representing Morgan at Cathcarts & Sons.
New episodes of War stream on HBO Max on Thursdays. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
- October 1, 2026
- Network
- HBO
- Directors
- Ben Taylor
-
Morgan Henderson
-
Carla Duval
-
Phoebe Fox
Serena Byrne
-
James McArdle
Nicholas Taylor
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.