Operation Mincemeat FIRST LOOK: Extras film intense scenes for Colin Firth’s new war epic

Filming for Colin Firth’s new World War II drama Operation Mincemeat began in Devon on Thursday.

The war epic, which is being directed by John Madden, will present the true story a British deception operation that helped to disguise the 1943 Allied Invasion of Sicily.

Extras dressed in soldiers uniforms could be seen filming action-packed scenes at Saunton Beach in North Devon, where they ran across the beaches with their guns in hand, proving they were ready for battle.

According to Devon Live, explosions were set off on the beach during filming, while gunfire could also be heard as they shot intense battle scenes.

Colin was not seen on set, nor was his co-star Kelly Macdonald who is taking on an as-yet-unnamed role in the film.

Operation Micemeat saw two intelligence officers, Ewen Montagu (Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley, successfully execute an elaborate ruse against German forces. 

Taking the corpse of homeless man Glyndwr Michael, the duo dressed him up in a Royal Marines uniform, and plant fake documents on him that suggested the Allied forces was a planned invasion on Greece and Sardinia.

They took the body to the southern coast of Spain in a submarine and releasing it closer to shore, where it was picked up by a fisherman and taken to the Abwehr, a German military intelligence organisation, who fell for the ruse.

As a result, German forces sent their reinforcements to the locations named in the documents, allowing the Allied forces yo liberate the island of Sicily.

Montagu wrote a book that detailed the operations, however the film is based on Ben Macintyre’s novel which Emmy-nominated writer Michelle Ashford has adapted for the big screen.

Colin and Kelly will be joined by Johnny Flynn, Matthew Macfadyen, Tom Wilkinson, and Mark Gatiss, amongst other high profile names. 

Of making the film, the director said in a statement: ‘In the context of World War II narratives, the story of Operation Mincemeat is unique – a bizarre and seductive cinematic blend of high-level espionage and ingenious fiction, where the stakes could hardly be higher.

‘Michelle Ashford’s script fuses multiple strands and moods: tense, romantic, thrilling, unexpectedly funny, and endlessly surprising. 

‘It tells a richly human story of the soldiers we seldom see, who fight a different kind of war in shadows and deception, haunted by the knowledge that certainty and guarantee of success are nowhere to be found.’

Produced by See-Saw Films and Cohen Media Group, the former will join FilmNation Entertainment and Cross City Films to launch international sales for the film at the Cannes Film Festival later this year.