Brendan Fraser to Star as Dwight D. Eisenhower in New D-Day Movie 'Pressure'

Don't expect a "Saving Private Ryan"-level opening battle scene in this D-Day movie. Instead, "Pressure" is about what happened at the top of the chain of command leading to the largest amphibious assault in the history of warfare.

The new film "Pressure," will star Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser ("The Whale") as Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Andrew Scott ("1917") as Group Capt. James Stagg, chief meteorologist at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. It will explore Eisenhower's decision to launch the landings on June 6, 1944, and the stress and tension surrounding the days leading to the invasion of Normandy.

On June 6, 1944, a coordinated naval and air bombardment of Nazi fortifications began, along with the insertion of some 24,000 airborne and glider troops as part of Operation Overlord. Just before daybreak, 7,000 ships and landing craft dropped 133,000 Allied soldiers onto the beaches of France. Eisenhower called the landings a "Great Crusade" and told the men, "I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle."

In truth, Eisenhower was anything but certain about the outcome of the landings. On the evening before the Allied landing at Normandy, the weather in the English Channel was so bad and the waters so choppy, the Nazi commanders on the French shores were certain no invasion could happen that day. Many German commanders were away from their posts; even their overall commander, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, was visiting his wife in Germany that night.

Though he was the one who gave the order to go, Eisenhower was not convinced the time was right. He even wrote an address in case the invasion failed. Hundreds of thousands of lives -- and potentially the outcome of the entirety of World War II in Europe -- were at stake with this one decision. He felt he had no other choice, as more than 200,000 troops were waiting to jump, land, sail or fly to France. He had already delayed the invasion by a day; any more delays would mean weeks of waiting.

Those early days of June 1944 are the setting for this film. Stagg, as the chief meteorologist, must inform Eisenhower of the weather conditions in the channel, probably the most crucial information of the entire operation. The Allies wanted both a full moon and a landing time between high and low tide, to allow troops maximum visibility of obstacles on the beaches. But June 5 came in the wake of a long heat wave, with high winds and heavy seas, so Stagg had to convince Eisenhower to put off the invasion by a day.

There were actually three weather forecasting teams looking at the conditions of the channel. Once they agreed on a timeframe for the invasion, they would have to convince Eisenhower and the officers of the Allied high command that the time had come to initiate Overlord.

Stagg, of course, was right. The Allied forces avoided even harsher winds and seized the opportunity to make the landings. Eisenhower went with Stagg's recommendations, but not without the intense hand-wringing one would expect from making such a decision. Not only did the weather break just enough to make the landing, but it caught the Germans by surprise and contributed to the invasion's success.

European studio Studiocanal ("The Imitation Game") and producer Working Title ("Darkest Hour") are teaming up to produce "Pressure," which is an adaptation of a 2014 David Haig stage play of the same name. Director Anthony Maras ("Hotel Mumbai") has signed on to direct. Since the film has yet to begin production, there is no release date set.

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