Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Tackle the Afghan War in New Netflix Film

So, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aren’t done with Netflix just yet. The royal couple is diving back into tough subject matter—this time with a gritty war drama—after a bumpy ride with their earlier streaming projects. For anyone keeping score, yes, their new film involves the kind of real-life military stuff Harry actually experienced.

The Memoir: Bullets, Siege, and Not Much Sleep

Here’s the backbone of the whole thing: Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Productions are adapting the 2019 non-fiction book No Way Out: The Searing True Story of Men Under Siege. If that title sounded brutal, that’s because it kind of is. The story centers on Major Adam Jowett and his unit, Easy Company, who were stuck in a terrifying, week-long shootout in Musa Qala, Afghanistan, back in 2006. We’re talking relentless combat—the kind where you run out of food, water, sleep, and, sometimes, hope.

Easy Company wasn’t just a bunch of rookies either. The squad was filled with seasoned Parachute Regiment troops and Royal Irish Rangers, and even then, they barely held out. Long story short: this is one of those war stories people describe as 'relentless' and mean it.

Who's Telling the Story?

For the screenplay, Harry and Meghan brought on Matt Charman, who got himself an Oscar nomination writing Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies. So, expect somebody who can handle tense standoffs and high-stakes drama. The original author, Major Adam Jowett, got some pretty heady praise—veteran reporter Martin Bell called it a pulsing, modern 'Rorke's Drift' (that’s an old British military disaster-turned-legend from colonial times, if you missed that reference in History class). Readers on Amazon seem to love the book too, where it sits at a pretty strong 4.6 out of 5 stars.

Harry’s Real-Life War Cred

This isn’t just a random genre pick for Harry. The guy served two tours in Afghanistan when he was still wearing the uniform, so he actually understands what it’s like when things get chaotic in a war zone. At the very least, that ought to give the adaptation a slightly sharper edge than the usual celebrity-produced biopic.

Here’s Where Things Get a Little Messy…

If you’re thinking, 'Wait, didn’t Harry and Meghan have some kind of epic Netflix deal?'—they did, but it’s gotten complicated. Earlier this year, Variety reported that several of their projects fizzled and didn’t make the kind of splash Netflix probably hoped for. So, Netflix shook things up: Archewell Productions dropped their old, broad overall deal, and now operate with a much narrower first-look arrangement. Translation—Netflix gets to cherry-pick their new projects, but Harry and Meghan don’t have as much of a blank check.

What Else Are They Up To?

• Movie adaptation of No Way Out (the Afghan war memoir)
• Upcoming rom-coms based on The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory and Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune

The Takeaway

In a year that’s been bumpy for the Archewell-Netflix relationship, this is a definite change of pace for Harry and Meghan. War films are tricky, especially when the source material is as raw as this one, and there’s always the question of how a royal take on Afghanistan will play for audiences. But if you’re curious to see how Harry leverages both his own experience and some Oscar-nominated writing muscle, keep an eye out for this one.

'Vivid, pulsating...the modern equivalent of Rorke's Drift.' – Martin Bell, war journalist, on the original memoir

We’ll see if this is the project that puts Archewell back in Netflix’s good graces—or just keeps them dangerously close to the exit sign.