‘Operation Mincemeat’ trailer: Colin Firth’s WW2 movie is based on a true story

From the producers of The King’s Speech, new British film Operation Mincemeat is finally out soon.

Set in 1943, the new Second World War drama has been beset by delays over the past few years.

Filming began in London, England way back in autumn 2019, but the shoot was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and production was only completed in Málaga, Spain in early 2021.

A release date was eventually set for this January, but that was postponed due to the rise in Omicron cases at the end of last year.

Based on Ben McIntyre’s best-selling book, the movie is directed by English filmmaker John Madden, best known for Shakespeare in Love and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Operation Mincemeat boasts an amazing cast of British stars, headlined by Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) and Matthew Macfadyen (Ripper Street).

They’re joined by Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey), Alex Jennings (The Crown), Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter), Tom Wilkinson (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Kelly Macdonald (Line of Duty), Hattie Morahan (Official Secrets), Mark Gatiss (Sherlock), and the late Paul Ritter (Chernobyl).

Johnny Flynn (Emma) is playing James Bond author and naval intelligence officer Ian Fleming, while Simon Russell Beale (Mary Queen of Scots) is playing Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The official synopsis reads: “The Allies are determined to break Hitler’s grip on occupied Europe, and plan an all-out assault on Sicily; but they face an impossible challenge – how to protect a massive invasion force from potential massacre.

“It falls to two remarkable intelligence officers, Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen), to dream the most inspired and improbable disinformation strategy of the war – centred on the most unlikely of secret agents: a dead man. Operation Mincemeat is the extraordinary and true story of an idea that hoped to alter the course of the war – defying logic, risking countless thousands of lives, and testing the nerves of its creators to breaking point.”

Operation Mincemeat will be now be released in UK cinemas on Friday 15th April.

The movie will then premiere exclusively on Netflix in the US and the rest of the world on Wednesday 11th May.

Watch the trailer:

 

The story of the Operation Mincemeat was previously adapted for the big screen in 1956’s The Man Who Never Was, based on Ewen Montagu’s book of the same name.

Penelope Wilton will reprise her role as Isobel Crawley in the upcoming Downton sequel.

Downton Abbey: A New Era is finally set to arrive in cinemas later this spring.

Ben McIntyre’s book Operation Mincemeat is available on Amazon.