The release of ‘Anthropoid’ has been confirmed by Icon Film Distribution for release to Irish and UK cinemas on Friday September 9th.
Irish talents Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan lead the cast of the WWII drama, directed by Sean Ellis. The feature is based on true events surrounding ‘Operation Anthropoid’, the mission to assassinate Nazi commanding officer Reinhard Heydrich.
The senior commander was known for both the Final Solution and the Nazi presence in Czechoslovakia. Murphy and Dornan play two soldiers from the Czech army-in-exile who must undertake the assassination in the occupied Czechoslovakia of 1941.
Ellis has described the use of authentic locations as critical to him, having researched the characters for his latest featured for fifteen years before undertaking the writing of the script. The events in the film are largely based on Czech military archives and accounts from witnesses.
‘Anthropoid’ is produced by LD Entertainment and was shot in various locations in Prague, including the Barrandov Studios, which housed the set of the church.
The film was received positively at Karlovy Vary recently, with many commending the high-quality production design in particular. As part of the festival panel, production designer Allan Starski from Barrandov Studios commented that Czech incentives could be further improved to compete with that of the UK and Ireland, to attract future projects to the country.