After documenting the groundbreaking research conducted by Dr. Bennet Omalu in Concussion, writer-director Peter Landesman ventured back in time for Felt, a period drama set to thrust Liam Nesson into the political cauldron of Deep Throat, Watergate and the crumbling Nixon administration. But Deadline is reporting that the filmmaker is ready to venture back further still – all the way back to the throes of World War II for The Last Battle.
Mining the story first told in Stephen Harding’s non-fiction novel The Last Battle: When U.S. And German Soldiers Joined Forces In The Waning Hours Of World War II In Europe, Landesman’s adaptation has set up shop at StudioCanal and The Picture Company. Before taking the formative steps into the film industry, Landesman made a living as an investigative reporter, and early intel for The Last Battle teases a match made in cinematic heaven.
Set during the fallout of Hitler’s suicide, Harding’s novel recounts the exchanges between America, Russian and German forces as WWII reached its bitter conclusion. It’s a fairly fascinating angle to take and here, Landesman’s outlines what’s in store.
“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. This is big-scale war film making in a classic sense, but also an intricate tale of heroism and vengeance and, ultimately, love.”
A wartime drama with added nuance? Color us intrigued. The Last Battle will now begin to cast the net in search of its leading stars. Bryce Zabel is the brains behind the original pitch, though we understand Landesman will now tinker the script before filming gets underway. Next up for the director is Felt, which is expected to march into theaters before the year’s end.
