Ridley Scott and Steven Knight Are Teaming Up for WWII Epic Series ROADS TO FREEDOM

Ridley Scott and Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) are teaming to develop and produce a 10-episode World War II epic titled Roads to Freedom. The series is based on the books by Sir Antony Beevor, and the show will tell the story of the war from multiple international perspectives.

It’s explained, “The intention is to tell the story using fresh and unique perspectives. While most Hollywood war films have focused on the American and British effort, Roads to Freedom will portray the brutal realities from multiple viewpoints, with characters not only from the U.S. and UK but also from Russia, Germany, France and other countries across the globe. That includes women, and children struggling to survive. The emphasis is on humanity, the characters bound together by one dramatic story. Some of the story lines will be discomforting, but heroic, and the race between East and West to capture Berlin will shed light on what became the foundations of the Cold War.”

I’m a big history buff, and I’m especially fascinated by World War II. There have been a lot of great films and shows made that tell stories from that war, and this new series sounds like it will be a great one. Especially with the creative talent currently on board to develop it.

Ridley Scott will direct the launch episode of the series and Knight and Beevor will write all ten episodes. The series was created by executive producers PJ van Sandwijk and Michael Lesslie through Storyteller Productions.

It’s explained that the series is “a major priority and deeply personal project for Scott, who’ll draw on vivid personal recollections of his childhood in wartime Britain and his journey to post-war Germany, where his father played a crucial role in rebuilding the country.”

The books that the show is based on include, D-Day – The Battle for Normandy, Paris After the Liberation, Arnhem – The Battle for the Bridges, Ardennes 1944 – Hitler’s Last Gamble, Berlin – The Downfall 1945, A Writer at War – Vasily Grossman with the Red Army, and The Second World War.

Scott recently wrapped The Last Duel and is currently directingHouse of Gucci. After that, he will move right on to direct Kitbag, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte. Scott is certainly keeping busy!

Knight most recently worked with director Doug Liman on the pandemic heist movie Locked Down and is executive producing his Apple TV+ series creation See, which stars Jason Momoa. He’s also working on the Tom Cruise and Doug Liman project that will shoot in space through NASA and SpaceX, as well as the Ron Howard-directed Thirteen Lives and Locked Down.

Source: Deadline