DreamWorks Pictures announced that principal photography will commence on 1917, written and directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker, Sam Mendes, on April 1, 2019.
The film follows two young British soldiers (Captain Fantastic’s George MacKay; Game of Thrones’ Dean-Charles Chapman) on a single day at the height of World War I.
Joining MacKay and Chapman are Mark Strong (The Imitation Game, Zero Dark Thirty), Andrew Scott (Spectre, Sherlock), Richard Madden (BBC’s Bodyguard, Cinderella), Daniel Mays (Fisherman’s Friends, Rogue One), Adrian Scarborough (The Madness of King George, Christopher Robin), Jamie Parker (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Nabhaan Rizwan (Informer), Claire Duburcq, with Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, the Bridget Jones franchise) and Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game, Doctor Strange).
Mendes, who will direct and wrote the screenplay with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (Penny Dreadful) produces the filmwith Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Away We Go)—his partner at Neal Street Productions—along with Jayne-Ann Tenggren (Spectre, the upcoming The Rhythm Section) and Callum McDougall (Mary Poppins Returns, Skyfall). Co-producing is Michael Lerman. The film will begin principal photography next week, shooting on location in England and Scotland.
The creative team helping to bring this story to the screen includes cinematographer Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049, Skyfall); production designer Dennis Gassner (Bugsy, Road to Perdition); costume designer Jacqueline Durran (Anna Karenina, Darkest Hour); editor Lee Smith (Dunkirk, The Dark Knight); and composer Thomas Newman, who has created the scores for six previous Mendes films, including Skyfall, Road to Perdition and American Beauty.
The film is being produced by Neal Street Productions for DreamWorks Pictures and Universal Pictures, and will be released in the US by Universal Pictures on December 25, 2019. Universal and Amblin Partners will distribute the film internationally, with eOne distributing on behalf of Amblin in the U.K.
1917 marks a reunion for Mendes and DreamWorks Pictures. The British director made his first feature, American Beauty, under the DreamWorks label, followed by two other productions—Road to Perdition and Revolutionary Road.
