Overlord, a World War II drama tinged with supernatural elements, has drafted in Wyatt Russell (Black Mirror) and Fences breakout Jovan Adepo to headline.
Word comes by way of Deadline, confirming that Overlord is in the works over at Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot – cue the Cloverfield speculation – with Julius Avery attached at the helm. It’s drafted in some serious writing talent, too, what with Billy Ray (Captain Phillips) and Mark Smith (The Revenant) on board to hash out a script. Production is due to commence in the UK this May, indicating that both Paramount and Bad Robot are poised to place Overlord on the fast-track ahead of a theatrical release sometime in 2018.
What’s the story? Well, according to Deadline, Avery’s revisionist take on World War II opens on the eve of D-day, when a troupe of “American paratroopers are dropped behind enemy lines to carry out a mission crucial to the invasion’s success. But as they approach their target, they begin to realize there is more going on in this Nazi-occupied village than a simple military operation. They find themselves fighting against supernatural forces, part of a Nazi experiment.”
Nazi experiments, both medical and otherwise, have and always will be fertile ground for storytellers, who have the opportunity to extrapolate worst-case scenarios from even the most benign wartime experiment. With Overlord, Julius Avery and Co. are evidently venturing into supernatural territory, and considering that J.J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber are on board, there’s no telling what’s in store.
Following a memorable turn in Black Mirror season 3 – “Playtest” is arguably one of the more haunting episodes in a series full of them – Wyatt Russell has lined up both Table 19 and the long-rumored sequel, Goon: Last of the Enforcers. The latter made its debut in Canada late last week. Jovan Adepo, meanwhile, holds a recurring role in The Leftovers.
