Chris Messina and Damian Lewis join the cast of the World War II film, Pressure

Last Updated on September 17, 2024

Filming for the World War II film, Pressure, has gone underway in the U.K. Pressure comes from the production studios Working Title and StudioCanal and will depict the build-up to the historic Normandy Landings. Ripley and All of Us Strangers star Andrew Scott is set to star in the film alongside Kerry Condon, known for her work in The Banshees of Inisherin and In the Land of Saints and Sinners. Deadline now reports that Chris Messina of Sharp Objects, joins the film as U.S. meteorologist Irving P. Krick and Golden Globe and Emmy winner Damian Lewis, of Billions, has been cast as legendary British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery.

The official 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.”

Anthony Maras (Hotel Mumbai) directs the film from a script written by him and Olivier Award winner David Haig. It is 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. 

Studiocanal CEO Anna Marsh, EVP Production Ron Halpern and SVP Global Production Joe Naftalin stated their excitement for the project, “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.”