Brenden Fraser to Star as Dwight D. Eisenhower in PRESSURE

Published: July 24, 2024

Brenden Fraser to Star as Dwight D. Eisenhower in PRESSURE

By Movieguide® Contributor

THE MUMMY actor Brenden Fraser is selected to take the lead as Dwight (Ike) D. Eisenhower in a new movie about the Normandy Landings called PRESSURE.

“Fraser joins BAFTA winner Andrew Scott, who as we revealed on Friday will star as Britain’s Chief Meteorological Officer James Stagg in the ticking-clock drama about the tense days leading up to the Normandy landings,” Deadline reported July 22.

“The true story will see ALL OF US STRANGERS and RIPLEY star Scott play Group Captain Stagg, whose job it was to inform Eisenhower of weather conditions that would make or break their Normandy invasion. The complex decision-making was critical in the fate of the war and the course of history,” Deadline said.

Eisenhower was recognized for his leadership in the invasion before he became president in 1953.

“Olivier Award-winner David Haig and Maras wrote the screenplay 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,” Deadline reported. “The film will concentrate on the pressure-cooker of the decision-making but also capture the scale of the landings.”

The movie’s 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 (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 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 will direct, and all of the cast has not yet been selected. The movie will begin to film in September in the UK.

Eisenhower’s life has been made into films several times with IKE, COUNTDOWN TO D-DAY and THE BUTLER. However, a side-by-side of Eisenhower and Fraser shows that the actor may be the former president’s closest match in likeness.

Last year, Fraser won an Oscar for his performance in THE WHALE, which Movieguide® gave a negative -4 review. Part of the review reads:

At its core, [THE WHALE] tells a message of love, primarily self-love. However, it’s marred by excessive foul language, graphic dialogue about sex and violence, disturbing images of vomiting and self-harm involving food, and abhorrent pro-homosexual elements attacking Christian faith. Despite lots of media hype for the movie, media-wise viewers and other moviegoers will find THE WHALE unacceptable.

Fraser recently performed in Searchlight’s RENTAL FAMILY, a comedy about an American man living in Tokyo. The release date is yet to be announced.