All Quiet on the Western Front, a new Netflix film based on the classic WWI novel by Erich Maria Remarque, is now shooting on location in the Czech Republic. Daniel Brühl (Captain America: Civil War, Inglourious Basterds) serves as both producer and star for the German-language production.
Based on Remarque’s own experiences as a soldier during the first World War, All Quiet on the Western Front has previously been adapted into an Oscar-winning 1930 feature and a 1979 movie starring Ernest Borgnine and Donald Pleasance.
This will be the first adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front in its original German language.
Remarque’s novel follows a group of patriotic young Germans who join the army during the first World War, their harrowing experiences in the trenches, and their struggle to return to civilian life afterwards.
Edward Berger (Jack, All My Loving) will direct from a script by Ian Stokell and Lesley Paterson. Berger was also behind the camera for episodes of the recent TV series Your Honor, starring Bryan Cranston, and The Terror, with Jared Harris.
Brühl will star in a supporting role among an ensemble cast. Other actors, including those in the leading roles, have not yet been announced.
Daniel Marc Dreifuss and Malte Grunert serve as producers, with Sirena Film handling production in the Czech Republic.
“All Quiet on the Western Front may be set in 1918, but it speaks directly to our times and the divisive tone in today’s discourse,” director Berger stated in a press release.
“It is a physical, visceral and very modern film that has never been told from my country’s perspective, it has never been made into a German-language film. We now have the chance to make an anti-war film that will truly touch our audience.”
Production on All Quiet on the Western Front began in the Czech Republic this month, with shooting scheduled to run through the end of May.
Largely taking place on the front lines during WWI, All Quiet on the Western Front will utilize rural locations in the Czech Republic in and around Prague, including the village of Milovice and the Lom Homolák quarry.
Production on All Quiet on the Western Front will also take place in locations in Germany and Belgium.
Brühl is no stranger to filming in the Czech Republic. He also stars in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which shot in locations throughout Prague last year, and previously filmed The Zookeeper’s Wife in the Czech capital in 2016.
The new adaptation has been in the works for a number of years, with directors Mimi Leder and Roger Donaldson attached to the Stokell-Paterson script at stages in production, and Vikings lead Travis Fimmel slated to star at one point.
Lead photo: portrait of Daniel Brühl in Berlin, 2015 by Oliver Mark.
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