Damian Lewis Joins WWII-Set 'Pressure' Starring Andrew Scott

World War II films seem to proliferate every time you turn around, especially since 2016. That was the year the NSA released a vast treasure trove of previously classified documents detailing many lesser-known missions, including the feats of derring-do undertaken by the spy community, of which writer Ian Fleming was a member and which inspired his character of James Bond. However, the latest World War II set period film, Pressure, isn't focused on strange-but-true moments, instead choosing to return to a more old-fashioned potboiler about pulling off the D-Day invasion.

Like its modern brethren, the new film focuses on some lesser-known actual war events; however, it does not come from that massive declassification because the piece it’s based on was written before the release occurred. Pressure was initially a stage play written by and starring David Haig, an actor audiences will be familiar with, either from his turn as Bill in Killing Eve or Archie Glover-Morgan in COBRA. The show premiered in May 2014 before moving to London’s West End in 2018; Haig played the lead role of Britain’s Chief Meteorological Officer James Stagg, whose job was to monitor the UK’s unpredictable weather conditions that could ruin the Normandy invasion. 

The film version, which promises a cinematic reimagining of the play (which had black box-type minimalist staging), apparently “concentrates on the pressure cooker of the decision-making but also captures the scale of the landings.”

Here's the film's synopsis:

In the seventy two 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 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.

With only his trusted aide Captain Kay Summersby to confide in, and haunted by a catastrophic D-Day rehearsal, the final decision rests with Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower. With only hours to go, the fate of the war and the lives of millions hang in the balance.”

For the film version, Andrew Scott (Ripley) takes over the lead role as the real-life Stagg, with American Brendan Fraiser (The Mummy) as Eisenhower. Damian Lewis (Wolf Hall) plays another real-life figure, British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery. Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) plays Captain Kay Summersby, and American Chris Messina (Sharp Objects) plays U.S. meteorologist Irving P. Krick.

Anthony Maras (Hotel Mumbai) is the writer/director of the project, with Haig credited as co-writer. Executive producers Ron Halpern and Joe Naftalin will oversee for Studiocanal with Anna Marsh.

Pressure is expected to film over the fall of 2024, with a release date expected in late 2025 or early 2026.