Focus Snaps Up Studiocanal & Working Title D-Day Movie ‘Pressure’ Starring Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon & More

EXCLUSIVE: Focus Features has snapped up U.S. rights to Working Title and Studiocanal’s WWII drama-thriller Pressure, about the build-up to the historic Normandy Landings.

The multi-million dollar deal includes a strong theatrical commitment, we understand, with Studiocanal continuing sales this week at the AFM. The European studio will handle the movie’s release in its territories.

The deal was closed by Anne Cherel for Studiocanal and Howard Meyers, and Marin Babb for Focus Features, which previously had big box office and awards success with Working Title’s WWII film Darkest Hour. 

Cameras are still rolling in the UK on Pressure, which stars Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon, Chris Messina and Damian Lewis.  

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 Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower (Fraser) of weather conditions that would make or break their Normandy invasion. The complex decision-making was critical in the fate of WWII and the course of history.

Anthony Maras (Hotel Mumbai) is directing. 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 synopsis reads: “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 (Andrew 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.

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

Ron Halpern and Joe Naftalin are overseeing for Studiocanal with Anna Marsh, Ron Halpern and Joe Naftalin aboard as executive producers.