Instant Oscar Contender:
Produced by Spielberg’s Ambling Partners, 1917 is the new war film directed by Sam Mendes, who co-wrote the screenplay with Krysty Wilson-Cairns.
Scheduled to be released by universal on December 25, immediately positions the war movie–a favorite genre among Academy voters– as a frontrunner in the upcoming Oscar race.
The tale centers on two young soldiers (played by George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) in what’s considered to be the worst year of World War I.
The mostly male ensemble includes terrific actors, such as Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Madden, Andrew Scott, Daniel Mays, Adrian Scarborough, Jamie Parker, Nabhaan Rizwan, Claire Duburcq, Daniel McMillon, George Verrall.
This is the first movie helmed by Oscar winner Mendes (American Beauty), after making two of the most commercially popular James Bond pictures, Skyfall and Spectre.
Thomas Newman composes the score for the film.
Ace lenser Roger Deakins oversees principal photography, which began on April 1, 2019, and will continue through June 2019 in Wiltshire, Hankley Common and Govan, Scotland, as well as Shepperton Studios.
Conservationists raised concern over the planned filming on Salisbury Plain, feeling that the production could disturb potentially undiscovered remains in the area.