Ridley Scott to direct Battle of Britain 'passion project' movie

Ridley Scott is to direct a second world war film about the Battle of Britain.

The studio 20th Century Fox has lined up Scott to direct the film, which is described as a passion project for the British director in a Deadline report. The film will be written by Matthew Orton, a British screenwriter, who also has a film in production about the attempts to track down the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.

The Battle of Britain, in which the Royal Air Force defended the country from German Luftwaffe attacks in 1940, hasn’t been the focus of a film since 1969 drama Battle of Britain, which starred Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer and Michael Caine.

Scott has recently completed Alien: Covenant – the second prequel of the Alien sci-fi franchise, which is due in cinemas in May – and is attached to direct two other films: a work based on the kidnapping of John Paul Getty and an adaptation of Don Winslow’s crime novel The Cartel. Additionally, he is producing a number of other works for TV and film, including a Navy seal drama starring Tom Hardy.

Scott isn’t the only British director with a second world war film in production. Later this year comes the release of Dunkirk, written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Based on the evacuation of Allied forces from the Dunkirk beaches, the film stars Hardy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh and One Direction singer Harry Styles.