‘Pressure’ By Anthony Maras.
Anthony Maras (Hotel Mumbai) will direct World War II movie “Pressure”, from Studiocanal and Working Title. The D-Day drama was scripted by Maras and David Haig. Andrew Scott and Brendan Fraser are set to star in the ticking-clock drama about the tense days leading up to the Normandy landings. Studiocanal are handling world sales.
BAFTA winner Andrew Scott (Ripley, Sherlock) will play Britain’s Chief Meteorological Officer James Stagg. Oscar winner Brendan Fraser (The Whale) has been cast to play Supreme Allied Commander and the 34th U.S. President — Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Fraser is also virtually the same age as Eisenhower was at the time of the Normandy landings. In August, Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) joined the cast as Eisenhower’s assistant Captain Kay Summersby. They were later joined in the cast by Damien Lewis (Band of Brothers) and Chris Messina (Air). Additional casting is underway.
Chris Messina (left). Damien Lewis (right)
The official synopsis reads: “In the 72 hours leading up to D-Day, all the pieces are in place except for one key element — the British weather. Britain’s Chief Meteorological Officer James Stagg (Scott) is called upon to deliver the most consequential forecast in history, locking him into a tense standoff with the entire Allied leadership. The wrong conditions could devastate the largest-ever seaborne invasion, while any delay risks German intelligence catching on. Stagg is also haunted by a catastrophic D-Day rehearsal, the final decision rests with Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower (Fraser). With only hours to go, the fate of the war and the lives of millions hang in the balance.”
Oliver Award winner David Haig and Maras wrote the screenplay based on Haig’s critically lauded play, which explores the personal and military stresses on Stagg and how tensions grew between the teams with different weather forecasts for the date of the proposed D-Day. The film will concentrate on the pressure cooker of the decision-making but also capture the scale of the landings.
Studiocanal previously had commercial and critical success with WWII story “The Imitation Game” — whose script was chosen as one of the best Black List scripts ever. While Working Title similarly scored box office and Oscar recognition with WWII film “Darkest Hour”. Both studios partnering up on this film gives a confident feeling to the audiences to deliver a film which stays true to the original story.
Principal photography began in September in the U.K. Locations include Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire.
Jamie D. Ramsay is the cinematographer for the film. his past credits include “All of Us Strangers” (2023).
