Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jeff Pope (Philomena) and Nautilus producer Xavier Marchand have teamed up for Moonriver TV to create a film based on the true story of a Confederate POW who performed a fearless play. Producing a limited series of 6 episodes called “Eagle’s Castle.” A prison break from a fortified Italian castle during World War II.
The pair will present the project to industry participants in Rome during the MIA Market, which will be held from October 14th to 18th.
The Eagle’s Castle, written by Pope and based on Mark Felton’s book of the same name, was produced by Marchand for Moonriver and Pope for Etta Pictures, the production label that is part of ITV Studios. Produced. “Harry Potter” star Jason Isaacs, who played Cary Grant in the four-part ITV biopic “Archie,” which Pope wrote, will star.
The series begins in 1943, as war rages across Europe and approximately 20 Allied soldiers and officers are imprisoned in the Castello Vincigliata. Castello Vincigliata is a nearly impregnable fortress towering over the Tuscan countryside that was converted into a prison by Italian dictator Benito’s Fascist forces. Mussolini.
Among the valuable prisoners of war were the kingdom’s two British knights, an air marshal, and 12 generals and brigadiers, among the highest-ranking officers captured and imprisoned during World War II. Part of it. They are joined by two brigade commanders from New Zealand who were captured by Italian forces in Libya during Mussolini’s campaign in North Africa.
Quite unlike ordinary soldiers, POVs possess some of the Allied Forces’ most important secrets. That includes the knowledge that Britain has cracked Enigma, Nazi Germany’s nearly unbreakable code for sending top-secret messages. If prisoners of war were transferred to Adolf Hitler’s Gestapo, the fate of World War II and Western civilization could be in jeopardy.
“The stakes were very high,” said Mr Pope, ITV’s head of factual drama. The screenwriter, who won a BAFTA in 2006 for ITV’s two-part drama See No Evil: The Moors Murders, said the series was about the prisoners’ miraculous escapes (without digging a tunnel underground). He said he wanted to do more than just tell a fascinating story about what happened. Explore beyond the walls of fortresses to the complex forces that were driving the war effort and reshaping Europe’s political landscape.
“It’s a lot of things rolled into one. It’s a thriller. It’s a psychological drama. It also has a social critique in the way it investigates the Nazis and the Italian prisoners,” Pope said. “We’re also looking at extremism and how it divides people… It’s full of action and drama in the traditional sense. But what underpins it all is… [are broader themes] we want to explore. ”
Marchand, former production president of eOne Features, described “The Eagle’s Castle” as “a beautiful story of male friendship.” “This is a very emotional piece about an older man trying to go back to war,” he said. He added that the show’s producers hope to find an Italian co-producer or broadcast partner during MIA, with an eye toward filming on location in Tuscany.
The veteran producer founded London-based Single Moon River in 2016, and his credits include Mrs Martin, starring Lesley Manville and Isabelle Huppert. “Harris Goes to Paris,” Paramount+ and Showtime’s adaptation of Amor Toles’ best-selling novel “A Gentleman of Moscow,” and Captain Nemo’s origin story inspired by Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” “Nautilus” will be released on AMC and Prime Video.
Marchand also served as an executive producer on the 2018 Laurel & Hardy biopic “Stan & Ollie,” which Pope wrote. This is the first project between an award-winning screenwriter and a veteran producer.
“[‘Castle of the Eagles’] was born from [‘Stan & Ollie’]”Because Zav and I spent a lot of time on this and it was a real passion project for both of us,” Pope said. “I think we both have a passion for the early 20th century. They don’t seem to be bed buddies, but…Stan and Ollie’s heyday was just before World War II. It’s an interesting time.”
The series is based on John Sturges’ The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough as Allied prisoners who daringly escape hundreds of prisoners from a Nazi prison camp. It reminds me of iconic dramas from World War II.
However, the crucial difference from “Castle of the Eagle” is that most of the senior officers who escaped from Vinciliata “were probably close to the age I am now,” Pope says.
“Whereas “The Great Escape” depicted young officers at the peak of their physical abilities, here were older men, many in their 50s and 60s, who… “They had something to prove to the world and to themselves in terms of ability. And how they refused to accept the fact that they were older,” he said.
“The idea of escapism is fundamental to all of us. But being able to play with such an unusual world and characters, so different from other escape films, all of that together is what I find fascinating.” I felt it.”
