Peter Landesman To Helm WW2 Drama, THE LAST BATTLE
Concussion and newly-wrapped Felt helmer Peter Landesman is on deck to rewrite and direct World War II drama, The Last Battle. As Deadline reports, the film is inspired by Stephen Harding’s 2013 Da Capo Press bestseller, The Last Battle: When U.S. And German Soldiers Joined Forces In The Waning Hours Of World War II In Europe, wherein the film will focus on the latter end of World War II as American and Russian forces battled it out with Hitler’s NAZI army.
via Da Capo Press:
May, 1945. Hitler is dead, the Third Reich is little more than smoking rubble, and no GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis.
The Last Battle tells the nearly unbelievable story of the unlikeliest battle of the war, when a small group of American tankers, led by Captain Lee, joined forces with German soldiers to fight off fanatical SS troops seeking to capture Castle Itter and execute the stronghold’s VIP prisoners. It is a tale of unlikely allies, startling bravery, jittery suspense, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.
The news comes following StudioCanal’s acquisition of the rights in December. Joining are The Picture Company’s own Andrew Rona who will produce with the film’s previous writer, Bryce Zabel. Jackie Zabel is executive producing with Ron Halpern and Shana Eddy overseeing for StudioCanal as cameras roll this summer.
via Deadline:
“This isn’t uniforms and flags, but about man’s warrior angels against the barbarities unleashed by war; about Americans saving and dying for strangers, Germans fighting Germans,” Landesman said. “This is big-scale war film making in a classic sense, but also an intricate tale of heroism and vengeance and, ultimately, love. It’s rare to come across something this good that also happens to be true. I’m grateful to the producers and StudioCanal, for entrusting me with this.”