Few filmmakers are better suited to bringing a story of brotherhood under extraordinary pressure to the screen than Peter Berg. From the football field of Friday Night Lights to the harrowing true story behind Lone Survivor, Berg has repeatedly explored groups of men pushed to their limits, but his newest film is bringing both of those worlds hurtling into each other in what will be one of Netflix’s biggest and most epic films of the year.
Netflix has just dropped a stunning trailer for The Mosquito Bowl, the World War II epic from Berg, which is set for theatrical release on October 30 and Netflix debut on November 25. The Patriots Day and Deepwater Horizon 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. As you can see, Berg’s previous filmography makes him the perfect choice to take on a topic like this, and it’s clear from the trailer that this will also be a more thoughtful take.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, four of America’s greatest college football stars — John McLaughry, Bob Baumann, Tony Butkovich, and David Schreiner — 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.
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. Berg told Netflix that Queensland’s landscapes were “cinematic gold — perfect for bringing this story to life.”
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Who Stars in ‘The Mosquito Bowl’?
The cast is led by Nicholas Galitzine (The Idea of You) as John McLaughry, Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu) as Bob Baumann, Ray Nicholson (Smile 2) as Tony Butkovich, Tom Francis (Sunset Boulevard) as David Schreiner, Brent Comer (The Gilded Age) as Murphy, Dominic Bogart (Justified) as Sergeant Wilkes, Jack Ingram (The Buccaneers) as Wilson, and Ella Newton (Harrow) as Jane.
The Mosquito Bowl opens in select theaters on October 30 before streaming globally on Netflix on November 25.
