Nicholas Galitzine and Bill Skarsgård Go From College Football Stars to World War II Marines in The Mosquito Bowl Trailer
Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson and Tom Francis leave the football field behind for the battlefield in the first trailer for The Mosquito Bowl, a World War II drama based on true events.
Netflix released the new trailer on Sept. 9, offering a first look at the film, which follows four standout college football players whose lives take a dramatic turn after the United States enters World War II in December 1941.
The Mosquito Bowl arrives in theaters on Oct. 30 before beginning its streaming run on Netflix on Nov. 25.
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Four Football Players Answer the Call to Serve
Galitzine, 31, stars as John McLaughry, while Skarsgård, 36, plays Bob Bauman. Ray Nicholson, 34, takes on the role of Tony Butkovich, and Tom Francis, 27, portrays David Schreiner.
Once celebrated as college football student-athletes, the four characters enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into the war.
The trailer moves between their earlier days on the football field and the far more dangerous reality awaiting them in the Pacific Theater. As the war intensifies, the men become part of the U.S. offensive against Japan and ultimately face the invasion of Okinawa in 1945, during the final months of World War II.
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A Game Played in the Shadow of War
According to the film’s official logline, the story begins after Pearl Harbor, when four of America’s leading college football players put their fame aside and join the Marines.
As they prepare for the brutal invasion of Okinawa, they take part in a legendary football game featuring some of the greatest players in the sport’s history. For many of those involved, however, it will be the last game they ever play.
The story behind the film is rooted in a real game played by members of the U.S. Marine Corps on Guadalcanal on Dec. 24, 1944. That extraordinary event became the basis for Buzz Bissinger’s 2022 book, Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II.
Peter Berg Reunites With Buzz Bissinger
The film is adapted from Bissinger’s 2022 book of the same name. The author is widely known for his 1990 football book Friday Night Lights, and The Mosquito Bowl reunites him with director Peter Berg, who also directed the adaptation of Friday Night Lights.
Berg, 62, co-wrote the screenplay with Mark L. Smith and also directs the film. It marks his first feature as a director since 2020’s Spenser Confidential.
The cast also includes Brent Comer and Dominic Bogart.
Nicholas Galitzine on the Film’s Intense Production
Galitzine has previously spoken about the physically demanding approach Berg brought to the production, describing a filming experience that relied heavily on the actors themselves and made limited use of stunt doubles.
“The way Peter Berg wanted to make this movie means we’ve done pretty much everything ourselves with limited use of stunt doubles,” Galitzine told Netflix’s Tudum.
He described explosions occurring only a few feet away, burning trees, flames that at times caught on the actors, and the constant sound of war surrounding them.
“I’ve never experienced this kind of immersion before in my career,” he said.
Watch the Trailer
The Mosquito Bowl opens in theaters on Oct. 30 and begins streaming on Netflix on Nov. 25.