Football Stars Become Marines in Official Trailer for Netflix's 'The Mosquito Bowl'

Director Peter Berg adapts the harrowing true story of college athletes fighting in the Pacific starring Nicholas Galitzine and Bill Skarsgård in the WWII epic.

Summary

Netflix has released the first trailer for director Peter Berg’s WWII feature film 'The Mosquito Bowl'

Based on Buzz Bissinger’s book the narrative follows four star college athletes who enlist in the Marines following Pearl Harbor

The movie opens in select theaters on October 30, 2026 ahead of its Netflix streaming debut on November 25, 2026

Netflix has officially debuted the first trailer for director Peter Berg’s World War II drama, The Mosquito Bowl. The feature adapts Pulitzer Prize winner Buzz Bissinger’s bestselling book The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II.

The film stars Nicholas Galitzine as John McLaughry, Bill Skarsgård as Bob Bauman, Ray Nicholson as Tony Butkovich, and Tom Francis as Dave Schreiner. Depicting four prominent college football athletes who trade their stadium jerseys for United States Marine Corps uniforms following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the story follows their transition from collegiate sports to military combat in the Pacific theater.

Berg, who also appears on screen as General Simon Buckner, constructed practical battle environments to capture the visceral realities of war. Although named after a historic football matchup between military all-stars on Guadalcanal, the production emphasizes the broader combat experience over sports action, framing the narrative as a war story centered on athletes confronting extreme circumstances.

The Mosquito Bowl opens in select theaters on October 30, 2026, before arriving on Netflix on November 25, 2026.