Netflix's wartime drama 'The Mosquito Bowl' sets Australia production

The Mosquito Bowl, directed by Peter Berg for Netflix, begins production in Queensland, Australia this month. 

The film follows four top American college football stars whose paths’ shift to the Marines upon the US’ entrance into World War II.  It is based on Buzz Bissinger’s account of the famous football game played in the Christmas of 1944 between two US marine regiments, The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II.

The cast includes Nosferatu star Bill Skarsgård, The Idea Of You's Nicholas Galitzine, Smile 2's Ray Nicholson and Tom Francis of You season five.

Berg produces through his Film 44 banner; it is the latest collaboration between Film 44 and the streamer, following American Primeval and Painkiller. Berg previously adapted Bissinger’s Friday Nights Lights for film in 2003 and TV in 2006. 

The film is supported by the Australian Government through the Location Offset, the Queensland Government through Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy, and the City of Gold Coast. 

Producers alongside Berg include Brian Grazer for Imagine Entertainment and Alex Gayner for Orchard Beach Entertainment. Berg co-writes the screenplay with former American Primeval collaborator Mark L. Smith, whose other work includes The Revenant and Twisters.