'American Primeval' Director's New WWII Netflix Series Gets an Incredible Casting Update

Fresh off the success of American Primeval, director Peter Berg is heading back to Netflix — and this time, he’s bringing a powerhouse cast with him. The Mosquito Bowl, Berg’s ambitious WWII sports drama, has officially locked in its leading men: Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson, Nicholas Galitzine, and Tom Francis.

Filming is set to kick off this summer, with Berg not only directing but also producing and co-writing the film through his Film 44 banner. He’s joined by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) on screenplay duties, while heavyweights Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind) and Alex Gayner (American Primeval) are on board as producers for Imagine Entertainment.

What Is The Mosquito Bowl About?

Adapted from the real-life events that inspired the book of the same name, The Mosquito Bowl tells the remarkable story of two Marine regiments — the 4th and 29th — who, while training in Guadalcanal for the brutal battle of Okinawa, decided to settle a long-standing rivalry with a football game.

But this wasn’t just a casual scrimmage in the dirt — the players included former All-Americans, team captains from major universities like Wisconsin, Brown, and Notre Dame, and nearly 20 future or drafted NFL players. It was a moment of brotherhood and defiance in the middle of war — and within months, 15 of the 65 players would die in the battle that followed. The full, lengthy synopsis follows:

“When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, college football was at the height of its popularity. As the nation geared up for total war, one branch of the service dominated the aspirations of college football stars: the United States Marine Corps. Which is why, on Christmas Eve of 1944, when the 4th and 29th Marine regiments found themselves in the middle of the Pacific Ocean training for what would be the bloodiest battle of the war – the invasion of Okinawa—their ranks included one of the greatest pools of football talent ever assembled: Former All Americans, captains from Wisconsin and Brown and Notre Dame, and nearly twenty men who were either drafted or would ultimately play in the NFL. When the trash-talking between the 4th and 29th over who had the better football team reached a fever pitch, it was decided: The two regiments would play each other in a football game as close to the real thing as you could get in the dirt and coral of Guadalcanal.
The bruising and bloody game that followed became known as “The Mosquito Bowl.” Within a matter of months, 15 of the 65 players in “The Mosquito Bowl” would be killed at Okinawa, by far the largest number of American athletes ever to die in a single battle. The Mosquito Bowl is the story of these brave and beautiful young men, those who survived and those who did not. It is the story of the families and the landscape that shaped them. It is a story of a far more innocent time in both college athletics and the life of the country, and of the loss of that innocence”

The Mosquito Bowl is currently in pre-production, with filming expected to begin this summer.