Bharat Nalluri To Direct ‘We Interrupt This Program’ On Chaotic Orson Welles’ ‘War Of The Worlds’ Broadcast

EXCLUSIVE: Bharat Nalluri is attached to direct We Interrupt This Program, a drama financed by Echo Lake Entertainment that focuses on the internal battles between Orson Welles and producer John Houseman that nearly derailed the shocking radio broadcast of War of the Worlds in 1938. Without identifying they were performing a sci-fi play, the broadcast panicked listeners into believing an alien invasion was taking place.

Sean Sorensen wrote the spec script, and Echo Lake’s Doug Mankoff and Andy Spaulding are producing with the writer.

The script explores two dramas unfolding on the night of October 30, 1938. The most well-known is the infamous radio broadcast, where the specter of invading aliens sent shockwaves of panic rippling across America. But even more chaos was taking place behind the scenes because of the stormy relationship between broadcast producer Houseman and Welles, its petulant director and star, that nearly derailed the most influential radio broadcast in history.

Nalluri, whose credits include The Man Who Invented Christmas, MI-5 and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, is repped by WME and Independent Talent. He just signed for management with Echo Lake.