He is sent on a mission in Cornwall to gather intelligence behind Stormbreaker, an advanced computer system being provided to schools across Britain, and its creator, billionaire Darrius Sayle.

One day, Alex is told that Ian has died in a car crash, but quickly discovers that his uncle was actually a spy working for MI6 and was murdered.

Billionaire Darrius Sayle is donating free high-powered computer systems code named Stormbreaker to every school in England.

Later, while Alex is having dinner with Sayle, Vole steals his phone and tracks the SIM card to his home in Chelsea.

That night, Alex sneaks out of his bedroom window to observe a midnight delivery of mysterious containers to Sayle's lair.

Nadia drops Alex into a water tank to be killed by a giant Portuguese man o' war, but he escapes using the metal-disintegrating spot cream supplied by Smithers.

Stormbreaker was intended by the novel's author, Anthony Horowitz, to be the first entry in a film franchise based on his Alex Rider series.

[7] Horowitz, already an established and prolific screenwriter in British television, wrote the screenplay and worked very closely throughout the film's production with director Geoffrey Sax and producers Marc and Peter Samuelson.

In addition to the Nintendo marketing in the film, Alex's cell phone is a Nokia 7710 and uses a sodium pentothal pen to get to London, not a gun.

[6] In a 2007 interview for Reuters, Horowitz blamed Stormbreaker's financial failings on The Weinstein Company's handling of the film's distribution on the American market, particularly their decision to not give it a wide release.

The critical consensus states "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker is strictly children's fare, as it lacks originality, excitement, and believabiltity [sic].

[15] BBC critic Neil Smith gave the film three out of five stars but criticised the "unsubtle turns" from both Bill Nighy and Stephen Fry.

Although likening it to both the Harry Potter and James Bond series, reviewer Ray Bennett said the film "lacks any kind of suspense" due to the script.

[17] Cinema Blend editor-in-chief Josh Tyler gave the film two and a half stars out of five, and said that, "Most of the problems with Stormbreaker all boil down to believability.

"[18] Boston.com's reporter Wesley Morris also gave Stormbreaker two stars out of five, and said that "Geoffrey Sax's filmmaking holds few surprises... but it's swift and competent, despite too many shots of cars on roads that bloat the running time.

[7] The Weinstein Company eventually cancelled their plans for a sequel, and Horowitz later expressed that the novels "do not translate well to the big screen".