Gavin O’Connor is an interesting Hollywood case study, with a career making the kind of mid-budget movies — “Warrior,” “Miracle,” “Pride and Glory” — that major studios have been moving away from in recent years. This fall, he showed he could be blockbuster material, scoring a hit with the dumb but kinda fun “The Accountant,” and as he result, he got the keys to “The Green Hornet” reboot. And now on his dance card is a WWII movie that has all the trappings of a prestige picture.
O’Connor is set to direct Bradley Cooper in the WWII drama “Atlantic Wall.” Based on the Black List script by Zach Dean (“Deadfall”), the story tracks a lone American paratrooper stranded behind enemy lines just days before D-Day, tasked with delivering intelligence critical to the outcome of the war and compelled to fulfill a promise to protect the young son of a murdered ally. With plans to shoot on location in Normandy, this sounds pretty awesome, but it’s likely a long way off.
Cooper will spend a good chunk of next year directing and starring in “A Star Is Born” with Lady Gaga, and likely will be busy editing after it wraps. But this one is already stirring interest, with Warner Bros. likely to snap it up for domestic distribution and come aboard as a co-financer. It’s another strong project on both Cooper and O’Connor’s plates, and it sounds like it could make for a wonderful collaboration.