Chris Messina & Damian Lewis Join WWII Movie ‘Pressure’ As Irving P. Krick & Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery; Filming Underway In UK

EXCLUSIVE: Cameras are now rolling on Working Title and Studiocanal’s WWII drama-thriller Pressure, about the build-up to the historic Normandy Landings.

Joining Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser and Kerry Condon in the blue chip cast are Chris Messina (Sharp Objects) as U.S. meteorologist Irving P. Krick and Golden Globe and Emmy winner Damian Lewis (Billions) as legendary British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery.

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.”

HODs include DP Jamie Ramsey (All Of Us Strangers), production designer Daniel Taylor (True Detective), costume designer Liza Bracey (We Live In Time) and casting by Lucy Bevan (Masters Of Air). Studiocanal is handling worldwide sales.

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

Studiocanal CEO Anna Marsh, EVP Production Ron Halpern and SVP Global Production Joe Naftalin commented: “We are thrilled to have reunited with our long term partners at Working Title, and to be working with our brilliant filmmaker Anthony Maras on this special production. Anthony has assembled a world class array of talent, and the nail-biting true story of the last minute decision-making involved in D-Day is urgent and extraordinary. We can’t wait to share Anthony’s bold and exciting cinematic vision with audiences around the world next year.”

Chris Messina is repped by CAA, Entertainment 360, and Sloane Offer. Damian Lewis is repped by Alex Irwin at Markham Froggatt & Irwin.