Peter Berg Takes Us Into the Making of His WWII Movie THE MOSQUITO BOWL in New Featurette
Netflix has released a new behind-the-scenes featurette for director Peter Berg’s WWII action drama The Mosquito Bowl, offering a look at the intense production and the cast’s experience bringing this incredible true story to life.
The film, which is now playing in select theaters, follows a group of college football stars who traded their promising athletic careers for military service during World War II, eventually finding themselves preparing for one of the deadliest battles in the Pacific.
The making-of video features Berg on set alongside Ray Nicholson and his fellow cast members as they discuss the physically demanding production and what it took to recreate this extraordinary chapter of American history.
Based on Buzz Bissinger’s book The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II, the story begins in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, when four of America's top college football players put their fame and futures aside to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.
At the time, the Marines attracted some of the country's best college football talent, including former All-Americans and team captains from universities such as Wisconsin, Brown, and Notre Dame.
On Christmas Eve 1944, members of the 4th and 29th Marine regiments were stationed in the Pacific, training for the impending invasion of Okinawa. Among them was an incredible collection of football players who came together for a legendary game before heading into combat.
For many of these young Marines, it would be the final football game of their lives. The film's tagline captures the story: "Trained for glory. Called to war."
Joining Nicholson in the cast are Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Tom Francis, Brent Comer, and Dominic Bogart.
Berg certainly has experience telling stories about people facing extraordinary circumstances. His previous directing credits include Friday Night Lights, Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, and Patriots Day, along with action films such as The Rundown, The Kingdom, Hancock, Battleship, and Mile 22. He also directed Netflix's Spenser Confidential and American Primeval, as well as episodes of Boys in Blue and Painkiller.
Berg co-wrote the screenplay with Mark L. Smith, with Berg producing through Film 44 alongside Brian Grazer for Imagine Entertainment and Alex Gayner.
The Mosquito Bowl opened in select U.S. theaters on October 30, 2026, where it has reportedly struggled to attract an audience. However, the film will have another opportunity to find viewers when it arrives on Netflix on November 25, 2026.
It's a fascinating piece of WWII history, combining the world of college football with the brutal realities of combat. The new featurette gives audiences a closer look at the work that went into telling the story and the experience of bringing these Marines' lives to the screen.
Check out the making-of featurette for The Mosquito Bowl and let us know if you're planning to watch the movie when it hits Netflix.