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HBO Developing Third WWII Miniseries with Hanks and Spielberg

posted 12 years ago by van-gramsci
53 replies | jump to latest

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/hbo-developing-third-wwii-m iniseries-413632

They've optioned the book, Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller, as the primary source material.

Thoughts?

Is anyone familiar with Miller's book?

Personally, I think the air war will be an interesting change of pace. Would air-to-air action (especially Bomber Command) be too monotonous though? At least it leaves a lot of room for interesting character development.

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[–] Get_your_azz_to_Mars 11 years ago

I'm glad they're doing this, but I'd rather prefer a mini-series based on Korea, Vietnam, WW1, or the Civil War.

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[–] mistamajestyk 11 years ago

I think you can still put out stories from WW2 and make them fresh, especially in the mini-series format.
With the budgets and production values that HBO was able to get on the previous two, I'd love to see a series from the German or Japanese perspective, including a collaboration with directors from those countries for certain episodes.

They could do a mini-series on the Battle of the Bulge, alone, covering such incidents as the Malmedy massacre, and its retaliation from US troops, as well as the capture and executions of the eleven black American soldiers from the 333rd artillery battalion, which would make an interesting episode.

The Italy and Africa campaigns never seem to get much coverage, and would make for great viewing, IMO.

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[–] Jimmycakes 11 years ago

who cares what you think? you're not unique by mentioning Africa or Italy.

[–] mistamajestyk 11 years ago

Who said I was unique? It's a message board, numb nut. People offer opinion. Go troll someplace else.

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[–] seh67 11 years ago

There is a series showing WW2 from the German perspective. It's called Generation War and is now in limited release. It comes to DVD and VOD on May 6th. It has a high rating here on IMDb and has got some very good reviews. It's been called the German Band Of Brothers. You can check out the trailer on You Tube.

[–] michaelannamarie 11 years ago

I think they'll do a great job & I cant wait to see it. Don't forget, about 40 million people died in ww2 & there are lots of compelling stories still to be told. As long as they're done well, I don't care.

[–] nickm2 11 years ago

Another interesting factoid of masters of the air is that it did have a good amount of info from the German pilots's side as well....I hope their stories are also included.

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[–] gravelandx88 11 years ago

I hope this does comes out. Show the people how strong the Luftwaffe was before the American air war over Europe. Then show how they decimated there air force.

[–] jd-276 11 years ago

This would be a distortion on a grand scale if it were presented that way.

America did not decimate "there (sic) air force" and certainly not on her own. Germany was fighting a war on two fronts and taking unsustainable casualties on both sides, mainly in the East.

[–] gravelandx88 11 years ago

Yes, I know that. They lost some of there best pilots in an earlier campaign, Battle of Britain. The rest died over a period of time. Since America possessed a bigger air force than Soviets. An they were bombing Occupied-France and Germany 24/7. There had to be a bigger Luftwaffe presents in the West than the East. Therefore, the Luftwaffe squadrons that were facing the West were decimated.

[–] jd-276 11 years ago

America possessed a bigger air force than Germany on paper. That actually isn't very relevant because German troops still needed close air support in a much larger theatre than the West. There were far more German troops in the East and they needed to be both supplied and protected.

Take a close look at where the majority of casualties occurred.

By the time of what is usually known as "The Battle of Germany" and "The Battle of Berlin", the Luftwaffe was pretty much out of exhausted and the reason for this was fuel. There was also the fact that their airfields were being so heavily bombed that many of their aircraft were being destroyed on the ground.

That's not to say that USAAF and RAF fighters did not have influence on the outcome or did not shoot them down - they did - but if you're looking for Sergeant York-style adventures, they'd be difficult to find. There weren't that many left in Germany in 1944/45. Operation Bodenplatte revealed just how many fighters were left to defend the Western end of Germany and with the Luftwaffe suffering something like 25% casualties and losing quite a few pilots in the process, it made an already depleted air force that much less effective.

A better subject would be the bombing of the Ploesti oil fields in Romania. Carried out entirely by the USAAF, it was probably the most important series of raids of WWII and resulted in the aforementioned fuel shortage. Schweinfurt would be another good choice.

[–] Theshape13 11 years ago

I'd be more interested in the North Africa and Italy campaigns since they have already covered Europe and the Pacific, and the North Africa campaign hasn't really gotten any recent (the last 30 years) depiction on film. It would be really fascinating.

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Reminisce_PartOne 11 years ago

Excited. Love the Band of Brothers/Pacific format.. only wish it had been being done for years before like since the 90s or 80s or 70s or hech even 60s.. but then veterans weren't really talking about it on film going that far back.

I had previously thought about and loved the idea of a war in the skies mini-series, however I do feel like this kind of thing would benefit from another one or two perspectives such as maybe other characters who are ground troops (don't have to be US, could be British or French resistance or some such, depending on where this will be set) or such as the navy (for example it could be a Memphis Belle meets Das Boot kinda' thing).

Alternatively it could have a The Great Escape element to it, if one/some of the characters were to become POWs and attempt an escape. Obviously this depends on if any of the men who will be portrayed did in fact become POWs. Another alternative is any men who were shot down, well the story of their fight for survival on land after going down could be told. And again, then you've got a more dynamic drama (not all the action taking place in the skies).

Oh also, hopefully they will have some archive footage of interviews with veterans that they can use, because unfortunately it's getting to be so long ago now that there are sadly so few of them left. I also loved the Tom Hanks narrated mini-history lessons at the beginning of each episode of The Pacific.. Band of Brothers should have had them! They should make some for the Band of Brothers episodes and attach them to the start of each episode on a new dvd.

[–] MightyTiki 11 years ago

A lot can happen between now and then, it could end up on the floor and never make it to production or to the public. I read the book, it's a good read regardless or not this series gets made.

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[–] chakobsa 10 years ago

It's now October 2014 and I can't find any new info on this upcoming series.
All news articles are from early 2013, so no new news in nearly 2 years.
Does anyone know if it's still going ahead?

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[–] domester82 9 years ago

I'd like to see a third Spielberg/Hanks series in the North African theatre. Maybe following the Big Red One division? Up from Africa into Sicily?

Or an aerial warfare show.

Or maybe WW1. We need a good WW1 mini series

[–] Incorruptible 9 years ago

I hoped a Civil War miniseries this time...