New thriller series Army of Shadows is putting together a stellar cast and with a killer synopsis to boot. Here is all we know about this upcoming show.
When a new TV show announces that it has not one but two Oscar winners starring in it, you tend to sit up and take notice. Army of Shadows has done just that – and it looks like a show to get excited about.
As revealed by Deadline, Susan Sarandon and Olivia Colman – both winners of the Best Actress award at the Oscars over the years – have both signed up for roles in the show, which is currently filming in London and Paris.
They are by no means the only stars signed up to this thriller set in a dystopian future – here is all we know about Army of Shadows.
What is Army of Shadows about?
The drama is set in a near-future Britain, which has fallen under authoritarian rule. The synopsis for the show is as follows: “Britain looks almost normal, but the flags are different, the news is careful, and nobody says certain things out loud anymore. But everyone can feel it. Somewhere beneath the surface of ordinary life, something has gone terribnly, quietly wrong. Out of the shadows emerges a former soldier known only as Berry, who starts building a secret resistance network. He knows one thing above allelse: don’t act before you are ready. An unlikely group start to coalesce around him – people who’ve decided they can’t look away any longer.
“Against them, a state with unlimited reach, a ruthless minister who’ll do whatever it takes to maintain ‘order’, and an American intelligence operative called Jessie who is very, very good at her job. Army of Shadows is a tense, propulsive thriller about what resistance actually costs. If your country were occupied, what would you do?”
Is it based on anything?
Yes it is – there is a book and a 1969 movie of the same name. The book, written by Joseph Kessel, and the movie by Jean Pierre Melville, dramatized the emergence of the French Resistance, which covertly fought against Nazi occupation of France in World War II.
The new Army of Shadows has been developed and produced with the support of the Melville family and the Kessel estate, although the source material is more inspiration than taken directly, as it is set in a near-future Britain.
Who is in Army of Shadows?
Susan is a great of modern cinema, but this show is her most high-profile in recent years. Olivia has been Oscar-nominated three times in the past 10 years, winning once, in 2019.
But the rest of the cast is stacked too, including some big names of the big and small screen over the past 20 years such as Paddy Considine (best known for appearing in Hot Fuzz), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Kit Harrington (Game of thrones) and Alex Hassell (Rivals).
Other members of the cast include Zoe Telford (red Eye), Luther Ford (The Crown), Amara Okereke (Andor) and Anjli Mohindra (Vigil).
Who is behind Army of Shadows?
Ronan Bennett – best known for current Tom Hardy-starring hit Mobland and The Day of the Jackal – is writing the series. Meanwhile, Lisa Gunning – who was behind the camera on Black Doves – is directing all six episodes.
When and where can we see Army of Shadows?
There is no release date yet for Army of Shadows, but as it is currently filming, it should hit screens in early- to mid-2027. In the UK, the show will be on Channel 4, but it will no doubt pick up networks across the world soon – Studiocanal is handling worldwide sales.
