

Once Upon a Time in 1940 (pitch)
Fiction 2hr 10min 2026 PG Action Comedy Historic
Based on Project X-Ray, Operation Fortitude, Operation Tracer, the "Shell" network, and Ian Fleming's Operation Goldeneye. This story covers real events and cancelled operations during World War II, following 7 daredevils based on real individuals involved in these operations.
Seven wildly eccentric outlaws assemble to pull off an epic, high-stakes heist in the spy-infested Iberian Peninsula. When the British military threatens to brick them into a Gibraltar cave forever, a ragtag coalition assembles: a legendary Portuguese football coach turned saboteur (Cândido de Oliveira), a brilliant West African prince-turned telecoms unit (Akin Shenbanjo), a glamorous Peruvian deceiver (Elvira Chaudoir), a fast-talking American demolitions expert (Lytle S. Adams), an old-school Scott who fights with a broadsword, a longbow, and bagpipes (Jack Churchill), a war magician who can hide the entire Suez Canal (Jasper Maskelyne), and the world's most aggressively creative pathological liar (Joan Pujol Garcia). This unlikely special ops unit decide to rewrite the script of World War II. Striking out on a rogue blitz across neutral Spain and Portugal, this magnificent disaster of a team weaponizes fake armies, high-society casino scams, and magic tricks to completely shatter Hitler’s grand designs, accidentally winning the war through a hilarious comedy of errors and explosive, whimsical bravado.