We seem to be living in the Golden Age of WWII movies that focus on lesser-known aspects of the war. From 2017’s Dunkirk to the upcoming Midway, the current trend in Hollywood seems to be looking outside of the more obvious Hitler narratives to reveal some of the unsung heroes of the great war. And the newly-announced WWII film from director David Ayer is no exception.
Ayer, who previously helmed the WWII tank-focused film Fury, is again turning his attention to the battle-ready vehicles of the second world war by directing the upcoming film El Alamein, according to Deadline. But unlike Fury, the action this time around won’t be based in Europe. Instead, El Alamein will focus on the tank battles in the North African theater of the war. Specifically, the film will retell the vicious conflict that took place on the continent between Bernard Montgomery’s Eighth Army of Britain and Erwin Rommel’s Nazi forces.
The real-life battles that the film will depict took place after Hitler sent Rommel to aid the Italians in North Africa, as Mussolini’s army was losing ground to the British-led Allies. Rommel’s forces were able to beat back the Brits, but only as far as El-Alamein, Egypt, where the Allies made a last stand and were able to keep the Nazis from taking the continent. The movie promises exciting battles in a little-seen setting as far as WWII movies are concerned, which should make for a nice change of pace.
No word yet as to when the Lionsgate film will arrive in theaters, as Ayer’s negotiations are still ongoing, but it’s clear that WWII movies are still finding new material to mine more than 70 years after the conflict.
