Julius Avery to direct Bad Robot’s World War II horror film Overlord

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

Ten years ago, Paramount Pictures acquired a World War II horror project called OVERLORD, based on a story crafted by J.J. Abrams and Billy Ray. After all this time, it looks like OVERLORD might finally be ready to start heading toward production, and Julius Avery – who made his feature directorial debut with the 2014 crime drama SON OF A GUN – has signed on to take the helm.

Written by Ray with a "slight polish" by THE REVENANT co-writer Mark L. Smith, OVERLORD tells the story of

two paratroopers who are caught behind enemy lines after their plane crashes on a mission to destroy a German Radio Tower in a small town outside of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. After reaching their target, the two paratroopers come to realize that besides fighting off Nazi soldiers, they also must combat against supernatural forces that are a result of a secret Nazi experiment.

Abrams will be producing the film through his company Bad Robot.

As described in the synopsis, OVERLORD sounds like another version of an idea that has been done several times over, sometimes to good results and sometimes to not-so-good results. My level of interest will depend on just what sort of supernatural force the characters will be facing.

Alicia Vikander in SON OF A GUN