Anglophile Alert: Into the Storm – Churchill Movie – on HBO Tonight

I’m a huge admirer of Winston Churchill and I’m very excited about a new movie airing on HBO tonight called “Into the Storm” which will chronicle Churchill’s war years.

It’s a direct sequel to the movie that came out a few years ago called “The Gathering Storm” which was about all of Churchill’s activity leading up to the beginning of World War 2.

The same people are involved in the production of this movie – except the cast has changed with Brendan Gleeson filling the shoes of Winston Churchill.

The movie premieres Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 9 PM Eastern Time. If you’re going to miss it, you can count on HBO repeating it many many times over the next couple weeks.

I’m really looking forward to this as there hasn’t really been a movie about Churchill’s war years (if there is, please let me know). Most World War 2 movies focus on the Americans, so it will be refreshing to see one focus on the British struggle.

Here’s the official synopsis:

For five years, Winston Churchill played perhaps the single most important role in thwarting the Nazis during WWII, with his intrepid leadership and rhetoric inspiring millions of Britons and other members of the free world to fight Hitler’s Germany to the bitter end.

Continuing the story of Winston Churchill told in HBO’s award-winning film, ‘The Gathering Storm,’ INTO THE STORM is set against the backdrop of World War II, and offers an intimate look at the making of a nation’s hero, whose prowess as a great wartime leader ultimately undermined his political career and threatened his marriage to his lifelong supporter, Clemmie.

Following the Allies’ success, Britain went to the polls in 1945 to decide their post-war prime minister and ruling party, taking over a week to tally all the votes. Incumbent Prime Minister Churchill went on holiday to France with his wife and daughter to anxiously await the results. Using those 10 days as a framework for the story, INTO THE STORM follows Churchill as he awaits his fate, reminiscing about the war years and how he guided his beleaguered nation through that difficult and challenging time.

HBO Films presents in association with BBC a Scott Free Production and a Rainmark Films Production of a Thaddeus O’Sullivan film. Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, David W. Zucker and David M. Thompson executive produce; Frank Doelger, Tracey Scoffield, Julie Payne and Ann Wingate produce. Starring Brendan Gleeson (Golden Globe® nominee for ‘In Bruges’; the ‘Harry Potter’ series) and Janet McTeer (Academy Award® nominee for ‘Tumbleweeds’; HBO’s ‘As You Like It’ and ‘Five Days’). Directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan ( ‘Proof 2,’ ‘December Bride’) and written by Hugh Whitemore (Emmy® and WGA winner for HBO’s ‘The Gathering Storm’; ‘My House in Umbria’), the film also stars Len Cariou (‘Flags of Our Fathers’) as F.D.R , James D’Arcy (‘Master and Commander: The Far Side of the War’), Iain Glen (‘Kingdom of Heaven’) and Patrick Malahide (HBO’s ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Five Days’).

Here’s the trailer for the film: