Netflix Sets Streaming Release Date for Bill Skarsgard's New World War II Thriller

Netflix is going back to World War II with the release of the new war thriller The Mosquito Bowl. It is set to start playing on the big screen next month before having its streaming debut in November.

Officially, The Mosquito Bowl will first premiere in theaters on Oct. 30. This will be followed by its streaming arrival on Netflix on Nov. 25. The WWII film is based on true events, following a group of college football athletes who enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps after the country’s entry into the war in 1941. Primarily, the story focuses on the football players as they head into combat as part of the U.S. offensive against Japan, including the invasions of Okinawa. A sneak peek at the plot can be seen in the new teaser trailer that was just released by Netflix. Check it out below.

The Mosquito Bowl Will First Play in Select Theaters

Based on Buzz Bissinger’s book The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II, the official logline for the film reads, “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 cast of The Mosquito Bowl includes Bill Skarsgård (Stephen King’s It) as Bob Bauman, Nicholas Galitzine (The Idea of You) as John McLaughry, Ray Nicholson (Smile 2) as Tony Butkovich, and Tom Francis (Sunset Boulevard) as David Schreiner. Peter Berg (Lone Survivor, Friday Night Lights) directed the feature.

“This is very much a reality-based film,” Berg told Netflix’s Tudum about the project. “We are representing forces larger than ourselves — honoring the men of the Marine Corps who sacrificed their lives in 1944 and 1945. I’m interested in love and compassion and human connection existing within these very traumatic environments. It’s intensity meeting emotion, and that’s where I tend to feel the most engaged.”

Galitzine also teased, “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. I’ve never experienced this kind of immersion before in my career.”

The Mosquito Bowl will play in theaters starting on Oct. 30, 2026, before having its streaming debut on Netflix on Nov. 25, 2026.