Oscar winners Susan Sarandon and Olivia Colman have signed on to “Army of Shadows,” the six-episode thriller series from writer Ronan Bennett now shooting in Paris and London. They join a cast that already includes Paddy Considine, America Ferrera, Alex Hassell and Kit Harington, rounding out one of the more heavily stacked ensembles of the year for Channel 4 and Studiocanal.
Bennett, who created “MobLand” and “The Day of the Jackal,” reimagines Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1969 film and Joseph Kessel’s source novel, both rooted in the French Resistance against Nazi occupation, and transplants the premise into a near-future Britain under de facto American control. A former British army officer builds a covert resistance cell from nothing, recruiting young allies willing to risk everything to reclaim their country. The series tracks internal betrayals, propaganda campaigns and internment camps before building toward a political assassination that closes out the run.
Studiocanal executive Paul Gilbert said the project began as a straight period adaptation before Bennett pitched the shift to a contemporary setting, a change he said gave the material new urgency. The story follows an ex-soldier drawn back into conflict alongside a novelist, two students and a radiotherapist, forming a resistance cell defined less by ideology than by ordinary people confronting choices they can no longer avoid.
Lisa Gunning, known for “Black Doves,” directs all six episodes. Two Cities Television, the company behind “Patrick Melrose” and “Blue Lights,” co-produces alongside Studiocanal, which handles international sales. The Melville family and the estate of Kessel, now controlled by the Irish Red Cross, both backed the adaptation.
The supporting cast includes Leila Farzad, Luther Ford, Amara Okereke, Patrick O’Kane, Anjli Mohindra, Ed Ashley and Zoë Telford. The series marks the first production from Studiocanal’s newly launched in-house arm and represents Bennett’s return to Channel 4, where he first broke through with “Top Boy.”
Sarandon arrives on the project fresh off an eight-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival for “The Echo Chamber,” and has spoken publicly in recent months about facing career pushback over her stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Colman continues a run of prestige television work following acclaimed turns across film and streaming.
