Colin Firth is teaming with John Madden to bring us a “stranger than fiction” WWII drama.
Operation Mincemeat is based on Ben Macintyre’s bestselling book. Adapting the story for the big screen is Emmy nominee scribe Michelle Ashford.
Set in 1943 when the Allies are determined to launch an all-out assault on Fortress Europe. The impossible challenge, however, was made possible thanks to two talented intelligence officers, Ewen Montagu (Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley, who came up with the most inspired and improbable disinformation strategy of the war — centered on the most unlikely of secret agents: a dead man.
“In the context of WWII narratives, the story of Operation Mincemeat is unique — a bizarre and seductive cinematic blend of high-level espionage and ingenious fiction, where the stakes could hardly be higher,” said Madden. “Michelle Ashford’s script fuses multiple strands and moods: tense, romantic, thrilling, unexpectedly funny, and endlessly surprising. It tells a richly human story of the soldiers we seldom see, who fight a different kind of war in shadows and deception, haunted by the knowledge that certainty and guarantee of success are nowhere to be found.”
Producer Charles S. Cohen added: “After optioning the acclaimed book by Ben Macintyre and assigning talented screenwriter Michelle Ashford, we are thrilled that Academy Award winning actor Colin Firth, will join celebrated filmmaker John Madden in bringing this extraordinary, fantastic and true story to audiences around the globe.”
