The true story will see All of Us Strangers and Ripley star Scott play Britain’s Chief Meteorological Officer James Stagg, whose job it was to inform Eisenhower of weather conditions that would make or break their Normandy invasion. The complex decision-making was critical in the fate of the war and the course of history.
Army General Eisenhower, nicknamed Ike, was lauded for his leadership during the war and would go on to become the 34th U.S. President, serving from 1953-61.
Anthony Maras (Hotel Mumbai) will direct Pressure, which is due to start shooting in the UK in September. Additional casting is underway, with Studiocanal handling world sales.
Olivier 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.
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 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.”
The Whale and The Mummy star Fraser — who is virtually the same age as Eisenhower was at the time of the Normandy landings — most recently was seen in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Upcoming he has Searchlight’s Rental Family.
