Ben Stiller recently confirmed that he’ll be departing from Severance’s third season to work on a new survival drama set during the Second World War, and the project bears some striking resemblances to another upcoming film. The movie, as yet unтιтled, follows an American pilot whose plane crashes in occupied France, leaving him without a safe way home.

While it’s certainly disappointing to see Stiller’s role in Severance reduced, the show can confidently survive without him, and this project seems like a very interesting departure for the actor-turned-director. It’s very different from the work that Stiller is known for, and it could mark a fascinating new phase of his career.

Ben Stiller’s New Movie Sounds Very Similar To Broadsword

Interestingly, Stiller isn’t the only person currently working on a movie about an Allied pilot getting stranded in enemy territory. It may seem like a very specific concept for a story, but it’s one that’s shared with at least one other upcoming Hollywood blockbuster: Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise’s Broadsword.

After working together on Tropic Thunder back in 2008, Stiller and Cruise’s careers have taken vastly different routes. While Stiller has stuck with comedy and become an undeniable icon of the genre, Cruise has become just as much of an icon within the action movie space. To see their careers converge in such a coincidental way is fascinating, even if these two projects end up being slightly different.

Broadsword has been described by McQuarrie as a World War II thriller that follows an American pilot who crashes in enemy territory and must team up with a local girl in order to find sanctuary and eventually make his way home. The director also revealed that Cruise’s character has less than 500 lines of dialogue in the entire script, marking an interesting departure from Mission: Impossible.

From the synopsis alone, the comparisons to Stiller’s project are already obvious. Both movies follow American fighter pilots who find themselves stranded in hostile territory during World War II, and they will both reportedly be character studies that relate to the greater context of the war as a whole.

Although it’s unlikely that Cruise and Stiller have discussed their latest projects with each other, it’s an undeniable coincidence that both actors are working on movies that seem, at least on the surface, so similar. To make matters even more confusing, McQuarrie is reportedly attached to a Tropic Thunder spin-off focusing on Cruise’s character, Les Grossman, though no updates have been given since 2022.

This creates another throughline between Cruise, McQuarrie, and Stiller that makes their respective projects even more coincidental. It’s unlikely there’s any tangible connection between the two projects, but there are certainly enough similarities to make audiences question it. Neither Stiller nor Cruise has commented on the ongoing discussions among fans.

Stiller’s Project Will Likely Be More Of A Drama Than Broadsword

Despite their strikingly similar premises, Stiller’s upcoming project will likely be very different from Broadsword in its execution and genre. The director has been leaning heavily towards drama in the past few years, with projects like Severance and Escape At Dannemora proving that he’s just as comfortable in serious projects as in comedic ones.

His WWII feature will probably fall in the former category, taking a more dramatic approach to the narrative that delves into this historical conflict and remains very grounded in its storytelling. The fact that Stiller is stepping back from Severance to make this project suggests that it’s very important to him. After all, Severance‘s universal acclaim has made it one of the H๏τtest projects in Hollywood.

Conversely, Broadsword has been teased as more of an action spectacle, more in line with McQuarrie’s work on Mission: Impossible and Jack Reacher. Although the reduced dialogue is certainly an interesting touch that could shake things up a little, it’s hard to imagine McQuarrie stepping back from the intense stunt work and action set pieces altogether.

Additionally, there seems to be a key difference in the narrative focus of both projects. Stiller has described his project as a survival thriller that will explore the protagonist’s involvement with the French Resistance during WWII, suggesting that it will be slightly more political and mature than Broadsword. It could also have a more historical slant, digging into real-life events and people.

McQuarrie’s movie seems to focus more closely on the dynamic between Cruise’s character and the young girl, perhaps offering some comedic relief or taking a more sentimental approach that highlights the value of friendship in times of war. Either way, it seems a far cry from Stiller’s more historically minded story of resistance and political uprising.

This narrative focus will probably be the biggest difference between Stiller’s upcoming project and Cruise’s work on Broadsword, though it’s ultimately too early to say what either project will look like upon completion. Stiller will reportedly start filming next spring, while Broadsword may take a while longer because of Cruise’s many upcoming projects.