Netflix gets $15 million North American & Latin America deal for Matthew Macfadyen and Colin Firth's WWII film 'Operation Mincemeat'

Deadline just reported that Netflix has struck a North American and Latin America deal to acquire the streaming rights too P&P Actors (2005 and 1995's Mr. Darcys) Matthew Macfadyen and 's new WWII Period Drama titled, Operation Mincemeat. The film is said to be completed too!

Read more info. below (via Deadline)...

Netflix Strikes $15M North America & Latin America Deal For Colin Firth WWII Movie ‘Operation Mincemeat’ – EFM

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has struck a big deal for the Colin Firth World War II movie Operation Mincemeat, we can reveal.

The streamer has pre-bought North America and Latin America rights for around $15 million from The King’s Speech producer See-Saw and Cohen Media Group after seeing footage in recent days.

Shakespeare In Love and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel filmmaker John Madden directed the movie, which stars Oscar winner Firth alongside Successionstar Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilton, Jason Isaacs, Johnny Flynn, Simon Russell Beale, Hattie Morahan, Mark Gatiss and Paul Ritter.

It has been 10 years since See-Saw and Firth teamed on multi-Oscar-winner The King’s Speech, and we hear this could be another potential awards pic. Set in 1943 when the Allies were determined to break Hitler’s grip on occupied Europe, the remarkable true story follows intelligence officers Ewen Montagu (Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Macfadyen) who conjure an inspired and improbable disinformation strategy centered on the most unlikely of secret agents: a dead man. It was a plan that helped turn the tide of the whole war.

CAA Media Finance and Simon Gillis of Cross City Films, See-Saw’s in-house sales arm, brokered the deal with Netflix on behalf of the filmmakers.

The completed movie had previously sold to IDC for Lat Am at Cannes 2019 but we understand all parties reached an amicable arrangement and there was none of the rancor that has characterized a handful of “buy-back” situations of late. It’s not crystal clear whether Netflix also wanted other territories — we’re told they didn’t — but the movie had already sold out internationally through FilmNation and we understand it remains with all its other buyers. Warner Brothers International previously picked up rights in UK, Republic of Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Benelux, for example, and is still releasing there.

Read more here. 

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The other 4 Austen actors who are co-starring with them in this film are: (P&P 2005's very own Mrs. Gardiner; Downton Abbey TV & Movie), Tom Wilkinson (Mr. Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility 1995), Hattie Morahan (Elinor Dashwoood of Sense & Sensibility 2008 TV Miniseries), and Johnny Flynn (Mr. Knightley of Emma 2020 film). Matthew will be playing as Charles Cholmondeley and Colin as Ewen Montagu. They are playing two brilliant British intelligence officers behind the Operation Mincemeat!! 

Filming for this movie begins later this month in London and Spain.

Read more info. about Operation Mincemeat per Deadline below...

‘Operation Mincemeat’: Matthew Macfadyen, Penelope Wilton, Johnny Flynn & Tom Wilkinson Join WWII Drama

Matthew Macfadyen (Succession), Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey), Johnny Flynn (Beast) and Tom Wilkinson (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) are joining Colin Firth and Kelly Macdonald in John Madden’s WWII drama Operation Mincemeat, which reunites Firth with The King’s Speech producer See-Saw Films.

Also joining the cast are Hattie Morahan (Official Secrets), Simon Russell Beale (Mary Queen Of Scots), Paul Ritter (Chernobyl) and Mark Gatiss (Sherlock). Filming is set to start later this month in London and Spain.

Michelle Ashford (Masters of Sex) has adapted the screenplay based on the best-selling Ben McIntyre book of the same name.

Set in 1943, the film follows two brilliant intelligence officers, Ewen Montagu (Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Macfadyen) who conceived a plan that was dubbed Operation Mincemeat. They would trick the Nazis into thinking that Allied forces were planning to attack southern Europe by way of Greece rather than Sicily. Their plan was to get a corpse, equip it with misleading papers, then drop it off the coast of Spain where Nazi spies would take the bait.

A See-Saw Films and Cohen Media Group production, in association with Archery Pictures, the feature is being produced by Charles S. Cohen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Kris Thykier. Simon Gillis, See-Saw’s COO of Film, will serve as executive producer. Jina Jay led casting.
FilmNation Entertainment alongside See-Saw’s in-house sales arm, Cross City Films, sold out international territories at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, with Warner Bros acquiring several key markets, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Benelux. Cross City Films and CAA Media Finance are co-repping U.S. rights.

Director Madden said, “Ben Macintyre’s book presents an irresistible range of characters navigating a world suspended between unreliable fact and enticing fiction, and demands a cast to match. I’m very excited about the ensemble that we’ve been able to bring together – a credit to Michelle’s Ashford’s rich and surprising script, which tells an extraordinary and thrilling story in unexpectedly human terms.


Further info. on What was Operation Mincemeat? via History.