Oscar winner Brendan Fraser (‘The Whale’) is set to play Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower in Working Title and Studiocanal‘s upcoming D-Day movie ‘Pressure’ — about the tense days leading up to the 1944 Normandy landings.

The true story will also see ‘All of Us Strangers’ and ‘Ripley’ star Andrew Scott as Britain’s Chief Meteorological Officer James Stagg.

Stagg’s duty was to inform Eisenhower on weather conditions in order to help him lead a successful Normandy Invasion during World War II, which would change the course of the war and the course of history.

Eisenhower would go on to become the 34th President Of The United States Of America, serving from 1953 to 1961.

Anthony Maras (‘Hotel Mumbai’) will direct the film, which is due to start shooting in the UK in September.

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.”

Troops from the UK, the US, Canada, and France attacked German forces on the coast of northern France, on 6 June 1944. D-Day was the largest military seaborne operation ever attempted, and marked the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe.

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