Director Peter Berg is heading to the Pacific Theater of World War II for a sweeping true story about four young men whose lives are upended by history.

In The Mosquito Bowl, Nicholas Galitzine (The Idea of You), Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu), Ray Nicholson (Novocaine, Smile 2), and Tom Francis (Sunset Boulevard, You) star as four of America’s top college football players who put their promising athletic careers aside to enlist in the Marines and join World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Ray Nicholson as Tony Butkovich

Tom Francis as Dave Schreiner and Bill Skarsgård as Bob Baumann

Nicholas Galitzine as John McLaughry 

The Friday Night Lights and Lone Survivor director adapted the film from Pulitzer Prize winner Buzz Bissinger’s bestselling nonfiction book The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II. And for Berg, bringing this chapter of history to the screen meant getting as close as possible to the experiences of the real men behind the story.

“This is very much a reality-based film,” Berg tells Tudum. “We are representing forces larger than ourselves — honoring the men of the Marine Corps who sacrificed their lives in 1944 and 1945.”

Here’s everything you need to know about The Mosquito Bowl, in select theaters Oct. 30 and on Netflix Nov. 25.

What is The Mosquito Bowl about?

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, four of America's greatest college football stars — John McLaughry (Galitzine), Bob Baumann (Skarsgård), Tony Butkovich (Nicholson), and David Schreiner (Francis) — set fame aside to enlist in the Marines. Eager to serve, they are immediately pulled out of their idealistic youth and into the violent realities of World War II. The film explores the true cost of war and the unbreakable bonds of brotherhood.

For Galitzine, stepping into the film felt unlike anything he had previously experienced. “The way Peter Berg wanted to make this movie means we've done pretty much everything ourselves with limited use of stunt doubles — explosives going off a couple feet from our faces, trees on fire, flames actually catching on us at points, the sounds of war right up close,” Galitzine says. “I've never experienced this kind of immersion before in my career.”

Galitzine as John McLaughry and Nicholson as Tony Butkovich

Is The Mosquito Bowl based on a true story?

Yes. The movie is adapted from Bissinger’s 2022 book The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II, which recounts the stories of college football players who joined the military during World War II and the remarkable game that brought many of them together before the Battle of Okinawa. 

It’s also a creative reunion between Bissinger and Berg that stretches back decades. Bissinger wrote Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, his landmark account of high school football in Odessa, Texas. Berg directed the 2004 movie adaptation and later developed the story for the 2006 TV series.

Realism and faithfulness to the stories of the four men motivated Berg, the cast, and the rest of the team on the film as they entered intense preparation, and no one took that responsibility lightly. “These were real people,” Nicholson says. “You work as hard as you can and believe in something bigger than yourself.”

Galitzine as John McLaughry

Skarsgård as Bob Baumann

Nicholson as Tony Butkovich

Francis as Dave Schreiner

Who is in the cast of The Mosquito Bowl?

• Galitzine plays John McLaughry, a natural leader both on the field and in life. He played quarterback for Brown University, coached by his own father, before bringing that same determination to the battlefields of the Pacific.
• Skarsgård plays Bob Baumann, a force of nature — a man who charges headfirst into any fight with the same enthusiasm he brings to a room full of friends. Larger than life in every sense, he played for the University of Wisconsin.
• Nicholson plays Purdue star Tony Butkovich, an unparalleled athlete and the best offensive player of his era, a man who seemed built for greatness from the moment he stepped onto a field, where he set records for Purdue.
• Francis plays David Schreiner, who played for the University of Wisconsin alongside Baumann, bringing a measured, strategic mind to the field.

The four leading men bonded during the months they spent preparing for and making the film. “There’s camaraderie in football, camaraderie in the Marine Corps, and in our own small way, we became brothers,” says Skarsgård.

Francis as Dave Schreiner and Nicholson as Tony Butkovich

Skarsgård as Bob Baumann and Galitzine as John McLaughry

Galitzine as John McLaughry and Nicholson as Tony Butkovich

Where was The Mosquito Bowl filmed?

The Mosquito Bowl was filmed in Australia, including locations in Queensland and northern New South Wales.

The Australian landscape stood in for several locations in the film, from Marine training grounds to the Pacific Theater. When production began, Berg called Queensland’s landscapes “cinematic gold — perfect for bringing this story to life.”

For Francis, who came to The Mosquito Bowl after a Tony-nominated turn on Broadway in Sunset Boulevard, the entire experience marked his first time making a film. “The best five months of my life,” he says. “I’ve met people on this job I’ll hold on to for the rest of my life. We came into this movie as boys and left as men.”

Francis as Dave Schreiner and Peter Berg 

Who is the creative team behind The Mosquito Bowl?

Berg directed and produced The Mosquito Bowl. The film continues Berg and Film 44’s creative partnership with Netflix following American Primeval and Painkiller. Berg produces alongside Brian Grazer for Imagine Entertainment and Alex Gayner, with Ezra Emanuel, Bissinger, and Jeb Brody serving as executive producers.

When does The Mosquito Bowl come out?

The Mosquito Bowl will be in select theaters Oct. 30 and on Netflix Nov. 25.