Epic D-Day war movie announced amid 80th anniversary commemorations - all details

Virgin Radio

5 Jun 2024, 15:34

A new tension-filled war film based on June 1944’s D-Day landings has been revealed ahead of the historical event's 80th anniversary.

The Normandy Landings-focused film will be entitled Pressure, and produced by Studiocanal (The Imitation Game) and Working Title (Working Title), Deadline reports.

Pressure’s story will focus around the real-life events which saw those behind the organisation of the D-Day landings plan how their military manoeuvre would take place at the mercy of the French coast’s ever changeable weather.

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Based on a play of the same name by Olivier Award winning actor and playwright David Haig, Pressure will be directed by Anthony Maras, and is co-authored by the pair.

As Deadline notes, a “high-level” cast is set to join the project, which will tell the story of Group Captain James Stagg, the chief meteorologist at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expedition Force, whose job it was to inform General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, of weather conditions that "would make-or-break" the Allied Forces' invasion.

Pressure will document how Stagg argued vehemently for the invasion to be delayed from its planned start date (5th June) to its eventual first day (6th June) as a result of his own weather predictions. His decision, and his success in convincing the others in command to follow it, quite possibly saved the D-Day invasion from being a failure as a result of sudden gales or storms.

While the D-Day landings were still difficult events for all involved, had the invasion been held a day earlier or delayed further, it would almost certainly have been buffeted by worse weather than it was on 6th June 1944.

The Second World War’s famous D-Day landings have often been portrayed in war films. Notable former portrayals include 1962’s The Longest Day, 1998’s Saving Private Ryan and most recently, 2023’s The Great Escaper.

More information on Pressure will be released in the future.