97-509: Dexter Fletcher (born 31 January 1966) is an English film director and actor. He has appeared in Guy Ritchie 's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels , as well as in television shows such as the comedy drama Hotel Babylon and the HBO series Band of Brothers and, earlier in his career, starred as Spike Thomson in the comedy drama Press Gang . His earliest acting role was playing Baby Face in
194-445: A Golden Globe Award for Best Actor . In 2011, Ritchie directed the sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows released on 16 December. It was a commercial success, grossing more than $ 545 million worldwide. A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised Ritchie for "taking liberties" with the characters, and wrote that both films depict "a smoky, overcast Victorian world, infuses it with an air of jocular, hairy laddishness and stages
291-471: A 2001 online series to promote BMW automobiles. Ritchie's next film, starring Madonna and Adriano Giannini , was Swept Away (2002), a remake of Lina Wertmüller 's 1974 Italian film of the same name . It is a romantic comedy about a wealthy socialite who is shipwrecked on a deserted island with a Communist sailor. The film was a critical and commercial failure, with an average rating of 5% on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes . Almar Haflidason of
388-474: A Malawian baby in 2006. Madonna filed for divorce in October 2008, citing irreconcilable differences. On 15 December 2008, Madonna announced that she had agreed to a divorce settlement with Ritchie, the terms of which granted him £50–60 million, which includes the value of the couple's London pub and Wiltshire estate . The couple issued a joint statement calling settlement reports "misleading and inaccurate". At
485-598: A commercial success. He subsequently reteamed with Jason Statham on the action films Wrath of Man (2021) and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023). His second film of 2023, The Covenant , received generally positive reviews. Ritchie was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire , the second of two children of Amber ( née Parkinson) and Captain John Vivian Ritchie (b. 1928), former Seaforth Highlanders officer and advertising executive. He has an elder sister, and
582-595: A critically panned box-office bomb starring Madonna , to whom Ritchie was married between 2000 and 2008. He went on to direct Revolver (2005) and RocknRolla (2008), which were less successful and received mixed reviews. In 2009 and 2011, he directed the box-office hits Sherlock Holmes and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows . The former was nominated for Academy Awards in Best Original Score and Best Art Direction . His other directed films include The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), based on
679-460: A director was for a script he co-wrote, Wild Bill , which was released on 20 March 2012. His second film as director is a musical film by Stephen Greenhorn , Sunshine on Leith based around the popular Proclaimers songs which were released on 4 October 2013. In 2015, he directed the feature film Eddie the Eagle . In December 2017, Fletcher was announced as Bryan Singer 's replacement director on
776-680: A firm producing outdoor cooking equipment and tents, which launched at Chelsea Flower Show in 2021. In October 2022 it was announced that Compton Abbas Airfield was being sold to Ritchie, who owns the neighbouring Ashcombe Estate. Ritchie took over running of the airfield in February 2023. Ritchie became a comic writer from 2007 to 2008 with the release of the Virgin Comics series Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper . Discovery Channel Discovery Channel , known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery ,
873-440: A half-brother who was born to Amber Parkinson and placed for adoption. Both of Ritchie's parents remarried. His father's second marriage was to Shireen Ritchie, Baroness Ritchie of Brompton , a former model and later Conservative politician and life peer . Between 1973 and 1980, Ritchie's mother was married to Sir Michael Leighton, 11th Baronet of Loton Park . As a divorcée, she is styled as Amber, Lady Leighton. Ritchie
970-446: A lot of fights in fussy and tiresome slow motion". In 2012, Ritchie produced a trailer for the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II . In 2013, he directed a commercial for H&M featuring David Beckham . A year later, he directed a commercial for whisky brand Haig , which also stars Beckham. He made a return to film in 2015 with The Man From U.N.C.L.E. , a remake of the 1960s spy series . Ritchie and Lionel Wigram wrote
1067-419: A music video for " What It Feels Like for a Girl ", a song performed by Madonna , to whom Ritchie was married at the time. In the video, she commits criminal and violent acts towards men; music channels MTV and VH1 banned the video from their rotation, opting to play it only once on the release date. Ritchie directed a short film starring Madonna and Clive Owen , titled Star for season one of The Hire ,
SECTION 10
#17330858069341164-510: A new logo, maintaining a refreshed version of the previous globe and D monogram. The new branding is accompanied by another new imaging campaign, "The World is Ours", which features scenes of Discovery personalities singing the Blue Swede version of " Hooked on a Feeling ". The static version of the globe icon uses a non-standard projection that shows all continents, reflecting Discovery's presence as an international brand. Discovery en Español
1261-406: A number of countries, Discovery's channels are available on digital satellite platforms with multiple language soundtracks or subtitles including Spanish, German, Russian, Czech , Hindi , Tamil , Telugu , Bengali , Dutch , Portuguese, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Turkish , Greek, Polish , Hungarian, Romanian , Arabic, Slovene , Japanese, Korean and Serbian . In 2011,
1358-482: A perennial pub debate that poses the question: Which is better, Snatch or Lock Stock ? Snatch apologists talk a good game, but the correct answer is, of course, Guy Ritchie's jaw-dropping debut. After all, this is a movie that brought the world ' The Stath ', Vinnie Jones hammering someone's skull with a car door, and the knowledge that a big purple dildo can be used as an offensive weapon. The production of comedy heist film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
1455-496: A prank show titled Swag , for Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. Ritchie's next heist film Revolver (2005) starred Jason Statham, Ray Liotta , Vincent Pastore , and André Benjamin . The story is about gambler Jake Green (Statham) who is released from prison and seeks revenge on those who stole his money. Filming was completed in late 2004 and the film premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival . Revolver
1552-467: A separate Tamil -language channel was launched. In Bulgaria , Discovery has, since 2000–2001, displayed Bulgarian subtitles by all cable providers and since 2010 – with Bulgarian dubbing for some shows. In Australia, the Discovery Channel is part of a six-channel package (not including timeshifts) on digital subscription television, available on Foxtel , Optus TV and AUSTAR . In New Zealand,
1649-620: A six-month driving ban after he was caught by CyclingMikey using a mobile device while operating a motor vehicle. Ritchie owns a pub, The Lore of the Land , in London, and previously co-owned another, The Walmer Castle with David Beckham until 2022 when it was taken over by Piers Adams, a French entrepreneur. Ritchie owns a small brewing company, Gritchie Brewing Company which brews beer on his Ashcombe Estate in Wiltshire. He also owns The Wild Kitchen,
1746-601: A week later in the United Kingdom. Despite high expectations from the studio, it received mixed reviews and was a box-office failure, causing large financial losses for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures , and leading to the cancellation of the subsequent sequels. In August 2017, Ritchie received the Raindance Auteur Award for his contributions to the British film industry . Next, Ritchie directed Disney 's live-action adaptation of Aladdin (2019), based on
1843-870: Is dyslexic , and attended Windlesham House School in West Sussex and Stanbridge Earls School in Hampshire . He was expelled from school at the age of 15. He has claimed that drug use was the reason for expulsion, although Ritchie's father said he was "cutting class and entertaining a girl in his room". After working on a short film, The Hard Case (1995), in 1998, Ritchie met Matthew Vaughn , who had been working in Los Angeles and expressed interest in producing Ritchie's directorial debut, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). It took 15 months to secure financial backing. Trudie Styler served as an executive producer—she said "I've always liked bad-boy movies". There's
1940-722: Is I think any director needs to immerse himself in both real life and in history to fully open up creative processes. And you must be prepared for the reality that any creative process worth its salt needs to be revised, reworked and, on occasion, thrown out the window entirely. Ritchie has worked multiple times with Vinnie Jones , Jason Statham , Jason Flemyng , Alan Ford , Geoff Bell , Mark Strong , Jude Law , Eddie Marsan , Jared Harris , Charlie Hunnam , Josh Hartnett , Hugh Grant , Jake Gyllenhaal , Eiza González , Henry Golding , Cary Elwes , Bugzy Malone and Henry Cavill . Ritchie started training in Shotokan karate at age seven at
2037-464: Is a dual British and Lithuanian citizen, having been granted Lithuanian citizenship in recognition of his work promoting Lithuanian cultural affairs. Guy Ritchie Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter. His work includes British gangster films and the Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey Jr. Ritchie left school at
SECTION 20
#17330858069342134-415: Is about an American expat who tries to sell his marijuana business, which triggers a chain reaction response from various criminals. Released on 1 January in the United Kingdom, and a few weeks later in other countries, the film was generally well received. Anton Bitel of Sight & Sound wrote that it "returns to the sense and sensibilities of his earliest features". Film critic James Berardinelli gave
2231-544: Is also available on digital satellite platforms in Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia (sometimes requiring an additional fee). In Poland, nc+ broadcasts the programs dubbed in Polish and in original English. A few other channels from Discovery are also in offer, like Discovery Historia, launched in cooperation with Polish broadcaster TVN , which later ended. In Spain, the channel shares a schedule and programs with Portugal and
2328-516: Is also fragmented dialogue, with many characters behaving menacingly and using cockney slang . The portrayal of the British class system has also been explored. Costume designer for The Gentlemen , Michael Wilkinson , said "Each character has an iconic, memorable look — a little larger than life". Fast-paced and energetic action scenes serve as cinematic choices, as well as placing his characters in combat or violent situations. Ritchie has used fast- cutting and slow motion to build momentum in
2425-673: Is an American pay television channel that was launched as the Spanish-language version of the Discovery Channel. It is operated by the Latin American division of Warner Bros. Discovery International in Miami, Florida . As of February 2015, approximately 6,476,000 American households (5.6% of households with television) receive Discovery en Español. Discovery Channel reaches 431 million homes in 170 countries. Discovery Communications currently offers 29 network brands in 33 languages. In
2522-650: Is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery , a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav . As of June 2012 , Discovery Channel was the third most widely distributed subscription channel in the United States, behind now-sibling channel TBS and The Weather Channel ; it is available in 409 million households worldwide, through its U.S. flagship channel and its various owned or licensed television channels internationally. It initially provided documentary television programming focused primarily on popular science , technology, and history, but by
2619-546: Is available on most satellite and cable platforms, making it possible to broadcast both in Spanish and Portuguese. In Spain, all programs are dubbed; whereas in Portugal, most of them are subtitled. In addition, Portugal has three Discovery-branded channels: Discovery Turbo (focusing on motorsports), Discovery Science (focusing on science and technology) and Discovery Civilization (focusing on historical events). These channels follow
2716-547: Is the policy of all Dutch television stations. Some programs and most promotions and program announcements have a Dutch voice-over. In Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, a Flemish Discovery Channel launched (previously the Dutch version was available for IPTV, DVB-C and DVB-S) on cable (and digital) television on October 1, 2009. In Italy, the Discovery Channel (and HD) is distributed via satellite by Sky Italia as part of
2813-543: The Chicago Sun-Times , Richard Roeper gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, praising Will Smith , Naomi Scott , and Mena Massoud 's performances. On Metacritic , Aladdin has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on 50 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews", and on Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 372 reviews with an average rating of 5.88/10. In 2020, Ritchie returned to crime comedy with The Gentlemen . The story
2910-461: The 1960s television series , King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), and Aladdin (2019), Disney's live-action adaptation of their 1992 animated film , which grossed over $ 1 billion worldwide, becoming one of the highest-grossing films in 2019 and the highest-grossing film of Ritchie's career. In 2019, he returned to crime comedy with The Gentlemen (2019), which was mostly well received and
3007-485: The ABC newsmagazine Nightline were joining Discovery Channel. The network was nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards that year for shows including The Flight that Fought Back (a documentary about the hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93 during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001) and Deadliest Catch (a reality series about a group of seafood fishermen). In 2007, Discovery Channel's top series included
Dexter Fletcher - Misplaced Pages Continue
3104-795: The Apple TV+ feature film Ghosted , which was released in April 2023. Fletcher was born in Enfield, the youngest of three boys, in North London, and grew up with his brothers in Woodford Green and Palmers Green ; his parents were teachers. In 1997 he married Lithuanian film and theatre director Dalia Ibelhauptaitė in Westminster . His best man was fellow actor Alan Rickman . Dexter's brothers were also actors; Graham Fletcher-Cook and Steve Fletcher. Fletcher
3201-467: The BBC was critical of the lead actors, writing, "[Madonna] has neither good comedic sense nor any warmth [...] as for Giannini, he spends the first half of the movie endlessly complaining like some old fishwife". The feature won five awards at the 2002 Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture , Worst Actress , Worst Screen Couple , Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Director . In 2002, Ritchie conceived
3298-410: The BBC , Allen & Company , and Venture America) raised $ 5 million in start-up capital to launch the network. The Discovery Channel began broadcasting on June 17, 1985. It was initially available to 156,000 households and broadcast for 12 hours each day between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m. About 75 percent of its program content had never been broadcast on U.S. television before. In its early years,
3395-698: The Budokwai in London, where he later achieved a black belt in both Shotokan and Judo . He also has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Renzo Gracie . Ritchie says that he can speak Hebrew. On 18 May 2000, Ritchie was arrested by police for allegedly assaulting a man outside the Kensington home that he shared with American singer-songwriter Madonna . On 22 December 2000, he married Madonna at Skibo Castle in Scotland. They had son Rocco, born in 2000, and adopted
3492-651: The Chicago Mercantile Exchange on a 15-minute delay), and Datavizion (offering trivia, strange news stories, games and a satellite TV guide); both services originated from WHA-TV in Madison, Wisconsin , and were run by the University of Wisconsin-Madison . The channel began to shift its focus in the early 2000s to attract a broader audience, by incorporating more reality-based series focusing on automotive, occupations, and speculative investigation series; though
3589-503: The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody . The film was released in November 2018. While Fletcher had helped finish the film, Singer received sole directing credit and he received executive producer credit. Fletcher directed the 2019 biopic Rocketman about the life and music of Elton John . In February 2020, he signed on to direct a reboot of The Saint for Paramount Pictures . He also directed
3686-554: The Republic of Ireland , the UK version of Discovery Channel is available on most cable providers in that country, but with local advertisements. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Discovery Channel is part of the Premiere digital network and supplies specific programs to other networks like ZDF and kabel eins . Discovery Communications is also owner of the documentary-channel XXP. The channel
3783-427: The 1976 film Bugsy Malone . Fletcher made his directorial debut with Wild Bill (2011), and also directed Sunshine on Leith (2013) and Eddie the Eagle (2015). He replaced Bryan Singer as director of Bohemian Rhapsody , a biopic about the band Queen , released in October 2018; due to DGA rules, he received executive producer credit. In 2019, he directed Rocketman , a biographical film based on
3880-482: The 1992 animated film of the same name . The plot follows Aladdin , a street urchin, as he falls in love with Princess Jasmine , befriends a Genie , and battles the wicked Jafar . Released on 24 May 2019 in the United States, the film was a commercial success despite mixed reviews; Aladdin earned more than $ 1 billion worldwide, becoming one of the highest-grossing films in 2019 , and the 34th highest-grossing film of all-time during its theatrical run. Writing for
3977-461: The 2010s had expanded into reality television and pseudo-scientific entertainment. As of November 2023 , Discovery Channel is available to approximately 71,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its peak of 99,000,000 in 2011. John Hendricks founded the channel and its parent company, Cable Educational Network Inc., in 1982. Several investors (including
Dexter Fletcher - Misplaced Pages Continue
4074-580: The Australian version of Discovery is broadcast on SKY Network Television . The Canadian version of Discovery was established in 1995, and is currently owned by a joint venture between Bell Media (via the subsidiary CTV Specialty Television; ESPN Inc. is a minority partner in this subsidiary due its ties to sports channel TSN ) and Discovery Inc. The channel airs similar programming to its U.S. counterpart, but also airs domestically produced programs to comply with local broadcasting regulations (which, in
4171-596: The Bad, and the Ugly (1966), Seven Samurai (1954) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). When asked about the influence of criminals Ronald and Reginald Kray , Ritchie states "It's inevitable ... everything, more or less, of the old-school villainy related back to the Krays at some point. And the Krays were a lot worse than everyone thinks they are. ... And I know what those boys were doing
4268-648: The Beast ", an episode in the second series of the BBC's series Robin Hood and in the 2008 radio series The Way We Live Right Now . He appeared in the Bo' Selecta! spinoff A Bear's Tail as The Scriptwriter. He played a brief role in the BBC series New Tricks , in the episode "Final Curtain", as an actor named Tommy Jackson. In 2009, he also appeared in Misfits as Nathan Young's dad, reprising
4365-658: The Central Family Court in Holborn , district judge Caroline Reid pronounced the decree nisi , which dissolved the marriage within six weeks. Madonna and Ritchie reached a custody agreement for their children. In February 2011, his London home was briefly occupied by members of the Really Free School , a squatter organisation. In 2010, Ritchie met model Jacqui Ainsley; they married on 30 July 2015. The couple have three children. In July 2020, Ritchie received
4462-574: The Discovery Channel Airport Stores, and the website remains in operation. Discovery Channel funded the construction of the Lowell Discovery Telescope , in partnership with Lowell Observatory . Discovery.com is the Discovery Channel's official website, which primarily provides information on the channel's programming and additional content, including articles, tied to those shows. The Discovery Channel's first logo
4559-590: The Emmy Award– and Peabody Award–winning Planet Earth , Dirty Jobs , MythBusters , and Deadliest Catch . Discovery Channel's 2008 lineup included Fight Quest and Smash Lab . On September 1, 2010, 43-year-old James Jay Lee entered the Discovery Communications headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland , armed with a handgun. Lee fired at least one shot and held several employees hostage; he
4656-534: The Middle East and Turkey. Discovery Channel and sibling channels Discovery World , TLC , Investigation Discovery and Animal Planet are available on the DStv/Multichoice platform. In August 2008, it was reported by The Consumerist that Discovery Channel had preempted an episode of MythBusters examining RFID security in regard to its implementation in credit cards before its original broadcast because
4753-693: The United Kingdom, Discovery Channel UK airs some common programs as the U.S. version, including MythBusters , American Chopper , How It's Made and Deadliest Catch . The channel is carried as a basic subscription channel on the SKYdigital satellite service and digital cable provider Virgin Media . Discovery UK also operates Discovery HD, Discovery Knowledge, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Science, Animal Planet, DMAX, Discovery Real Time, Discovery Home & Health, Discovery Travel & Leisure and Discovery Shed. Many of these channels also have timeshifted versions. In
4850-455: The United Kingdom. The film was set to be released in theatres in the United States on 17 January 2025, but was removed from the release schedule in November 2024 as post-production was not yet finished. On 6 July 2023, it was announced Ritchie would executive produce the ESPN documentary series Gracie , to be directed by Chris Fuller . On 11 January 2024, it was announced Ritchie would direct
4947-465: The action adventure film Fountain of Youth , for Skydance Media and Apple Studios , with Natalie Portman , John Krasinski and Domhnall Gleeson set to star and production began in February 2024. On 28 February 2024, it was announced that Ritchie would serve as director and executive producer alongside Top Boy creator Ronan Bennett on the Ray Donovan spin-off series The Donovans for
SECTION 50
#17330858069345044-453: The age of 15, and worked in entry-level jobs in the film industry before going on to direct television commercials. In 1995, he directed a short film, The Hard Case , followed by the crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), his feature-length directorial debut . He gained recognition with his second film, Snatch (2000), which found critical and commercial success. Following Snatch , Ritchie directed Swept Away (2002),
5141-535: The campaign was intended to "showcase our earned place in the greater pop culture landscape". In August 2013 (coinciding with Shark Week ), the aforementioned monogram became the main on-air logo as part of a new imaging campaign, "Grab Life By the Globe", which was designed to emphasize the channel's current focus on personality-driven programming. The logo was portrayed in promos with visual effects relevant to their respective program. On April 1, 2019, Discovery unveiled
5238-438: The channel is Shark Week , which airs on Discovery during the summer months. Discovery has also featured documentaries specifically aimed at families and younger audiences. Other popular programs have included How It's Made , Cash Cab , and Man vs. Wild . Shortly before the 2004 Tour de France , Discovery Channel announced it would become the primary sponsor of a professional bicycling team starting in 2005, featuring
5335-534: The channel's focus centered on educational programming in the form of cultural and wildlife documentaries, and science and historical specials . It also broadcast some Soviet programming during this time, including the news program Vremya . The channel also carried two teletext services over its VBI during this time, Infotext (offering news from the Associated Press , as well as information about agribusiness and agriculture, including commodity prices from
5432-537: The criticism by stating, "I don't think anything went wrong with Revolver . By its very nature it's an esoteric movie. It's not designed for the masses". The film was budgeted at $ 27 million but earned $ 7.1 million at the worldwide box office. In 2007, Revolver was re-edited and released for the United States. In 2008, Ritchie directed RocknRolla , for which he also wrote the screenplay. It stars Gerard Butler , Tom Wilkinson , Thandie Newton , Mark Strong , Idris Elba , Tom Hardy , and Toby Kebbell . RocknRolla
5529-526: The cultural heritages of Malaysia , mistakenly featured Balinese Pendet dancers . This prompted outrage from Balinese dancers, who posted messages demanding that Malaysia apologize over the misinformation, which then sparked a series of street protests. Further demands were made from the local governments, cultural historians and the tourism ministry in Indonesia for Malaysia to clarify the situation. The Malaysian government reportedly offered an apology, which
5626-441: The documentary pack. In addition, Italy has four Discovery-branded channels: Discovery Science, Discovery Real Time, Discovery Animal Planet and Discovery Travel and Living. In Bulgaria , Czech Republic , Croatia , Hungary , Poland , Romania , Slovakia , Serbia and Slovenia , Discovery Channel is carried by most cable television and IPTV providers with all the content subtitled in the respective languages. Additionally, it
5723-454: The episode would upset credit card companies, who are major advertisers on Discovery Channel. It was later determined that the decision not to investigate the issue was made by Beyond Productions , the MythBusters production company, and was not made by Discovery Channel or their advertising department. An ad promoting Enigmatic Malaysia , a special series on the network meant to highlight
5820-435: The film 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 out of four stars, writing, " The Gentlemen takes Ritchie back to his roots" although "the screenplay is too clever by half, with some of the quirkiness being awkward and intrusive." On Rotten Tomatoes, the film gained an approval rating of 74% based on 260 reviews, and earned $ 115 million worldwide. In October 2020, it was announced that Ritchie was developing a spin-off television series , which
5917-450: The internal market, interrupted its carriage of Discovery Communications channels, including Discovery Channel. The CEO of Discovery Communications Mark Hollinger sent an open letter in his attempt to counteract the action of RCS&RDS, attracting the attention to the negation of the alleged right of the viewer to choose the viewed channels. In turn, RCS&RDS issued a press statement accusing of hypocrisy Hollinger's discourse attentive at
SECTION 60
#17330858069346014-648: The lead roles, with Paramount no longer involved. The film was released in theatres in the United States on 19 April 2024 by Lionsgate . In May 2023, a few weeks after production wrapped on The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare , it was announced Ritchie would next direct the film In the Grey (untitled at the time), starring Cavill, Gyllenhaal and González, set to shoot in Spain in the summer of 2023. The film concluded production in October 2023, with Lionsgate acquiring domestic distribution rights and Black Bear UK releasing in
6111-592: The life and music of performer Elton John . Fletcher trained at the Anna Scher Theatre . His first film part was as Baby Face in Bugsy Malone (1976). He made his stage début the following year in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream . As a youth actor he was regularly featured in British productions in the early 1980s, including The Long Good Friday , The Elephant Man and The Bounty . In 1987 Fletcher
6208-464: The main Discovery Channel, including Discovery Turbo, Discovery Science, Discovery Home & Health and Discovery Travel & Living . The Philippines has its own semifeed derived from the Southeast Asian channel, in which offers regional variations with local advertisements during the commercial breaks. In South Africa, Discovery Channel shares a schedule and programming with all of Africa,
6305-569: The major HBO drama, Band of Brothers and in a supporting role in the BBC One historical drama The Virgin Queen (US PBS 2005, UK 2006). He also appeared in Kylie Minogue 's music video for " Some Kind of Bliss " (1997). He starred on BBC One in a series based on Imogen Edwards-Jones 's book Hotel Babylon that ran for four series before being cancelled in 2009. He also appeared in " The Booby and
6402-406: The movie that succeed are also frustrating." However, he praised Hugh Grant 's performance which "saves the movie". In January 2014, Warner Bros. hired Ritchie to direct the first of six films in a franchise, fantasy adventure King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) with Charlie Hunnam portraying King Arthur . The feature was released in 2D and 3D on 12 May 2017 in the United States, and
6499-552: The needs of viewers and attracted attention to the fact that, during negotiations, the main preoccupations of the Discovery representatives was maintaining as high as possible tariffs and monetary gains". After four years of absence, on December 30, 2016, the Discovery Channel and its sister channel TLC returned to the RCS&;RDS CATV, IPTV and DTH networks. Eaten Alive was a television program in which wildlife filmmaker Paul Rosolie
6596-458: The past, included the daily science newsmagazine Daily Planet cancelled in 2018). Some of its original series (such as, most prominently, How It's Made ) have been picked up in the U.S. by Discovery's sister networks (such as Science Channel ), but others have not necessarily aired on Discovery's networks. Since 2018, the channel has increasingly aired blocks of fiction programming with science- or technology-oriented themes. Discovery Channel
6693-609: The refocused programming strategy proved popular, Discovery Channel's ratings began to decline by the middle of the decade. Some critics said such shows strayed from Discovery's intention of providing more educationally based shows aimed at helping viewers learn about the world around them. In 2005, Discovery changed its programming focus to include more popular science and historical themes. The network's ratings eventually recovered in 2006. On January 4, 2006, Discovery Communications announced that anchor Ted Koppel , executive producer Tom Bettag, and eight other former staff members from
6790-581: The role in 2010 for the second series. Fletcher has been the voice for McDonald's television adverts and (feigning a US accent) is the narrator of The Game audio book written by Neil Strauss. He also narrated the Five series Airforce Afghanistan , as well as the Chop Shop: London Garage series on the Discovery Channel . In 1993, he was the voice of Prince Cinders in the short animated comedy of
6887-675: The same model as the original Discovery Channel, except for the absence of advertising. Spanish advertisements are broadcast on the Portuguese feed, non-subtitled or dubbed. In South East Asia , Discovery Channel is available on digital subscription television. Discovery Channel Asia still shows crime programs (such as Most Evil and The FBI Files ). Many programs feature development and society in Asian countries, especially in India and China. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have other channels branched from
6984-649: The same name. Also in 1993, he was the uncredited UNIT soldier narrator of the UNIT Recruiting Film – a five-minute spoof piece that preceded a BBC1 repeat of the sixth and final episode of Doctor Who story Planet of the Daleks . In 2014 he narrated the BBC1 show Del Boys and Dealers . In 1998, Fletcher featured on the song "Here Comes the Flood" from the album Fin de Siecle by The Divine Comedy . Fletcher's debut as
7081-505: The screenplay about a CIA agent and a KGB agent who work together to stop a criminal organisation from constructing a nuclear weapon. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer played the lead roles. Principal photography commenced in 2013 in London and Italy, with rewrites to the script during filming. It was released on 14 August 2015 by Warner Bros. to a mixed critical reception. Glenn Kenny on RogerEbert.com writes that it "is only intermittently engaging and amusing, and those portions of
7178-494: The slogan was changed in the early 2000s to "Entertain Your Brain". In 1995, the channel's name was simplified to "Discovery Channel", dropping "The" from its name. A globe became a permanent part of the logo, and an underline was added to the bottom of the logo On March 31, 2008, Discovery unveiled a new logo, which took effect on-air on April 15, 2008 (coinciding with the fourth season premiere of Deadliest Catch ). The new logo
7275-524: The spy thriller Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre , again starring Statham. It was scheduled for release in cinemas on 18 March 2022, but was pulled from the schedule a month prior without an explanation; it was eventually released in the United States on 3 March 2023, by Lionsgate . Ritchie next filmed the war drama The Covenant , starring Jake Gyllenhaal , Dar Salim , Antony Starr and Emily Beecham , in February 2022 in Alicante , Spain . The film
7372-512: The story, and to create a high-impact viewing experience, respectively. He is also known to use interweaving stories and a non-linear narrative such as a circular plot in his films; this is found in the case of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Sherlock Holmes and Snatch Ritchie has said this on his creative process: My creative process has never been something I can put into words. It's very random, very scattered and can sometimes lead down dark alleyways and dead ends. What I will say
7469-526: The streaming service Paramount+ . By October 9, the project had been retitled The Associates and had been reworked into a standalone series, with Tom Hardy , Helen Mirren , and Pierce Brosnan in final negotiations to star in the project. On 13 May, it was announced Ritchie would write and direct the film Wife and Dog ; in November, it was announced the project would star Benedict Cumberbatch , Rosamund Pike , and Anthony Hopkins , with production expected to begin in February 2025. On 29 May 2024, it
7566-967: The then-seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong , whose wins were voided after he was proven to have cheated via doping. After the 2007 victory with the Spaniard Alberto Contador , Discovery Channel discontinued the cycling sponsorship. The Discovery Channel stores first opened in 1995. By 1997, the chain had 17 US and 1 UK stores. At that time, the chain was building a flagship store in Washington, DC, with three levels themed to various environments—sea and underground, land and outer space, aviation and science—to be opened in February 1998, with another flagship store in San Francisco to be opened in November 1998. On May 17, 2007, Discovery Communications announced it would close its standalone and mall-based stores. Hudson Group will continue to operate
7663-499: The worldwide box office. At the 1999 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was nominated for three awards: Outstanding British Film , Best Editing and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for Vaughn. The film won a BAFTA for Film of the Year. In response to the film's success, Ritchie created a spin-off television series called Lock, Stock... . in 2000. Ritchie's next film
7760-449: Was Sherlock Holmes (2009) starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law . The film was released on 25 and 26 December 2009 in the United States and United Kingdom. It was a box-office hit, taking more than $ 520 million worldwide, and garnered mixed to favourable reviews from critics and general viewers. It received multiple accolades, including two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction , and Downey won
7857-436: Was Snatch (2000), another crime-comedy about a group of criminals searching for a stolen diamond. Starring an ensemble cast including Benicio del Toro , Dennis Farina , Jason Flemyng, Vinnie Jones , Brad Pitt , Rade Šerbedžija and Jason Statham. Similar to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels , the film depicted events from different characters' perspectives; a narrative device which he would use in later films. Snatch
7954-512: Was a hundred times worse than what everyone thought was going on. So it's inevitable that anything that is genuine, and old, and British will somehow have something to do with the Krays". Ritchie's films often incorporate memorable and "colourful" characters, for instance, Irish boxer Mickey O'Neil in Snatch , and crime boss "Hatchet" Harry in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. In his crime films, there
8051-643: Was a television screen picturing a map of the world. For two decades, starting in 1987, the channel's logo incorporated the Discovery wordmark rendered in the Aurora Bold Condensed font with a circular shape in front of it. The circle usually took the form of a rising sun, or an animated version of the Vitruvian Man . Discovery Channel's previous slogans had been "Explore Your World" and "There's No Thrill Like Discovery." Keeping with its changing focus away from strictly educational programming toward reality TV,
8148-732: Was announced that Ritchie would serve as executive producer and director on the Amazon Prime Video television series Young Sherlock , based on the Young Sherlock Holmes series of young adult novels by Andy Lane . Ritchie has cited Quentin Tarantino and Sergio Leone as influences on his work. However, he has stated "just about every film — any good film — that's ever been made has had an influence on me. But then how much of it, I have no idea". He has complimented several films including The Long Good Friday (1980), The Good,
8245-517: Was bought in the spring of 2006 from its former shareholders Spiegel TV and "dctp". All programs are dubbed into German. The channel is now known as " DMAX ", presumably to associate the channel with Discovery. In the Netherlands, the Discovery Channel is included on most cable, IPTV and DVB-T providers. Nearly all of the programs are broadcast in their original language, but they are subtitled in Dutch as
8342-945: Was cast in Lionheart . As an adult he appeared on television as the rebellious teenager Spike Thomson in Press Gang and in Murder Most Horrid (1991) with Dawn French . He has also starred in the films Caravaggio (1986), The Rachel Papers (1989), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Layer Cake (2004), AffirmFilm's Solomon as Rehoboam and Universal's Doom . He appeared as Puck in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1981 at Glyndebourne Opera and on their autumn tour, and then again in 1990 in an Opera London production at Sadler's Wells , subsequently recorded by Virgin Classics . On television Fletcher has appeared in
8439-521: Was completed in about eight months. Starring Nick Moran , Jason Statham , Jason Flemyng and Dexter Fletcher , the film exposed them to worldwide audiences, and launched the acting career of former footballer Vinnie Jones . It was released in the United Kingdom on 28 August 1998 to critical and commercial success, with Janet Maslin of The New York Times praising Ritchie's "brash, ebullient direction" and "punchy little flourishes that load this English gangster film". The feature earned $ 28.1 million at
8536-494: Was designed by Viewpoint Creative, and integrated Discovery's long-time globe iconography into the "D" lettering of the wordmark, creating a monogram that was usable as a standalone icon. The launch was accompanied by a new advertising campaign, "The World is Just Awesome", which featured scenes of Discovery personalities singing an adapted version of the song "I Love the Mountains". Discovery Channel president John Ford explained that
8633-494: Was eventually acquired by Netflix ; the series was released on Netflix on 7 March 2024. Ritchie next directed the action thriller Wrath of Man , a remake of the 2004 film Cash Truck , starring Jason Statham. It was released in the United States on 7 May 2021. It was initially set for theatrical release in the United Kingdom by Lionsgate UK , but was instead released straight to streaming on Amazon Prime Video on 10 December 2021. Ritchie followed up Wrath of Man with
8730-644: Was later shot dead by police. Lee had published criticisms of the network at Savetheplanetprotest.com. In December 2015, Discovery Communications launched its TV Everywhere service, Discovery Go, which features live and video-on-demand content from Discovery Channel and eight of its sister networks. Programming on the flagship Discovery Channel in the U.S. is primarily focused on reality television series, such as speculative investigation (with shows such as MythBusters , Unsolved History , and Best Evidence ), automobiles, and occupations (such as Dirty Jobs and Deadliest Catch ). A popular annual feature on
8827-607: Was launched in 1995 in India broadcasting originally in English and Hindi. In June 2010, a Bengali audio track was added to the channel as well as a Telugu track in October 21 of that same year. On August 15, 2011, a separate Tamil-language channel was launched with an estimate audience of 10 million households. Discovery recently launched Discovery Plus, a new streaming service for India priced at ₹300 per year, offering content in eight languages— English , Hindi , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , Kannada , Bengali and Marathi . In
8924-578: Was purportedly going to be "eaten alive" by an anaconda . It aired on December 7, 2014. When the special aired, the anaconda attacked Rosolie but did not swallow him, as its title had implied, prompting numerous complaints of a bait and switch . In February 2024, a group of US congressmen sent a letter to the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery criticizing World's Ultimate Frontier , a joint production between Discovery and Chinese state media outlet China Global Television Network (CGTN), for "whitewashing genocide" of
9021-526: Was rejected by the Indonesian tourism minister, since the apology was given informally by phone, the Indonesian tourism minister demanded a written apology to make it more accountable. Shark Week , Discovery's annual shark-themed programming block, has been criticized for sensationalism and the promotion of junk science . In November 2012, the Romanian RCS&;RDS , the largest company of its kind on
9118-462: Was released in the United Kingdom on 22 September 2005, but it was critically panned and a commercial failure. Simon Guerrier of FilmFocus gave it one out of five stars, calling it, "tedious, humourless, pretentious and nasty". Adrian Hennigan from the BBC wrote, "the cheeky charm has been replaced by plodding pretentiousness in a film that's illuminated by great action set-pieces and some powerful performances, but not redeemed". Ritchie responded to
9215-515: Was released in the United States on 21 April 2023. In June 2022, it was announced that Ritchie had signed on to direct a live-action film adaptation of Disney's Hercules . In February 2021, Ritchie agreed to direct and write the World War II film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare , based on the book by Damien Lewis , for producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Paramount Pictures . In October 2022, Henry Cavill and Eiza González were cast in
9312-482: Was released on 23 August 2000 to a commercial success at the box office, grossing more than $ 83 million worldwide. Mick LaSalle , writing for San Francisco Chronicle , was impressed with Ritchie's directing and "sequences that discharge with energy", but felt the writing could have been better. Film critic Roger Ebert describes Ritchie as a "zany, high-energy director" but felt the film's plot "doesn't build and it doesn't arrive anywhere". In 2001, Ritchie directed
9409-640: Was released on 5 September 2008 in the United Kingdom, reaching number one at the UK box office in its first week of release. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 60% rating, stating, "Mixed reviews for Guy Ritchie's return to his London-based cockney wideboy gangster movie roots, but most agree, it's a step in the right direction following two major turkeys". In that same year, Ritchie directed a television commercial for Nike called "Take It To The Next Level". The commercial includes appearances from Cristiano Ronaldo , Cesc Fàbregas , Ronaldinho , Wayne Rooney , and Ruud van Nistelrooy . Ritchie's next directorial effort
#933066