War movies, no matter what they’re about at their core, need to show you the humanity in them. In fact, most war movies aren’t about war at all, but some of the most powerful movies revolve around young men who had their entire futures waiting for them before everything changed. It’s that hook which Peter Berg is going to use to snare audiences who aren’t quite ready to get their hearts broken.
Netflix has officially released the red-band trailer for The Mosquito Bowl, Berg’s upcoming World War II drama based on the acclaimed nonfiction book The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Buzz Bissinger. The film will open in theaters on October 30, before arriving on Netflix on November 25, 2026. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, four of America’s top college football stars set their fame aside to enlist in the Marines. As they prepare for the brutal invasion of Okinawa, they’ll play in a legendary game featuring some of the greatest players in history — a game that, for many, will be the last they ever play.
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Who’s Involved in ‘The Mosquito Bowl’?
The cast is led by Nicholas Galitzine (Red, White & Royal Blue) as John McLaughry, Bill Skarsgård (It) as Bob Bauman, Ray Nicholson (Smile 2) as Tony Butkovich and Tom Francis (Sunset Boulevard) as David Schreiner. They are joined by Brent Comer (Tulsa King) as Murphy, Dominic Bogart (The Birth of a Nation) as Sergeant Wilkes, Jack Ingram as Wilson, Ella Newton (Harrow) as Jane and Berg himself as General Buckner, while former NFL punter Pat McAfee also appears as a drill instructor.
Berg has once again teamed up with Bissinger, whose nonfiction book inspired Friday Night Lights — both the original movie and television series — alongside producer Brian Grazer and composers Explosions in the Sky. Berg co-wrote the screenplay with Mark L. Smith (The Revenant), adapting Bissinger’s account of the extraordinary football game played by Marines preparing for combat in the Pacific, and Berg’s relationship with military action is set to continue beyond The Mosquito Bowl, as the filmmaker is also attached to direct Paramount’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Call of Duty, from a script by Taylor Sheridan.
The Mosquito Bowl opens in theaters on October 30, 2026, before streaming exclusively on Netflix from November 25.
The Mosquito Bowl
In this World War II sports drama based on Buzz Bissinger’s nonfiction book, four celebrated college football players put their athletic careers aside to join the U.S. Marines after the events at Pearl Harbor, eventually taking part in a legendary football game on Guadalcanal before facing the brutal Battle of Okinawa.
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