Pak40 Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 By Crispian Balmer PARIS (Reuters) - Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, inspired by their award-winning film "Saving Private Ryan," return to the D-Day beaches in June to unveil their latest World War Two epic -- a multi-million dollar TV series. "Band of Brothers," a true-life tale tracing the dramatic exploits of a U.S. army unit as it fights its way across Europe, had a $120 advertisement million budget and is being billed as one of the most expensive television programs in history. The series will receive its premiere in an auditorium seating 1,000 people to be built beside Normandy's Utah Beach, the scene of some of the fiercest D-Day fighting. The screening is set for June 6, the 57th anniversary of the 1944 landings by allied forces on the heavily defended Channel beaches of German-occupied France. "We decided that an extraordinary story and project like this demanded an extraordinary premiere," Richard Pepler, the executive vice president at U.S. pay-TV network Home Box Office (HBO) which funded the 10-part extravaganza, said Wednesday. Filmed in Britain last year over eight intensive months, "Band of Brothers" features some 500 speaking parts, employed 10,000 extras and was put together by eight directors. The 1998 picture "Saving Private Ryan" won Spielberg an Oscar as best director and left the two Hollywood heavyweights hungry for more war drama. They decided on adapting a best-selling book by Stephen Ambrose, which focuses on a small group of soldiers in the U.S. army's 101st Airborne Division. The story follows the men of Easy Company through training and onto D-Day when they parachute into France behind Nazi German enemy lines. It climaxes with their daring capture in 1945 of Hitler's fortified mountain retreat, the Eagle's Nest. WALK-ON PART FOR HANKS Realizing that such a huge story could not be told in one feature-length film, Spielberg and Hanks suggested it as a 10-part television serial and quickly got HBO on board. In a change of role, Spielberg and Hanks executive produce "Band of Brothers," while Hanks also directs an episode -- not an entirely happy experience by his own admission. "I'm much happier being on the other side of the camera," he tells series web site, http//members.aol.com/amblin55/BOB.htm. Hanks's acting in the series is limited to a fleeting walk-on part. HBO spared no expense when it came to special effects. By the third episode of shooting, more pyrotechnics had been used than in the entire production of Saving Private Ryan, while more than 130 tons of paper was used to create snow for a single forest set -- a record, HBO say. The production managed to save money by shunning stars. With the exception of Friends favorite David Schwimmer, the cast consists of virtual unknowns, but HBO executives insist that this was an artistic rather than financial decision. "It is important that people don't just see this as Hollywood. We want to make people understand that had they been born 75 years earlier it would have been them going off to fight," Anne Thomopoulos, who oversaw Band of Brothers for HBO, told a news conference in Paris. The series will be broadcast in the United States from September 9 and will play on European television in the weeks and months that follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franko Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Thanks! That was useful..I've been following this one! ------------------ Plants and animals die to support your fat ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warmaker Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Hmmm... Maybe we'll see more Tiger Is/T-34's get blown up by a M1911A1? Did U.S. troops capture the Eagle's Nest? Somehow I don't think so, but not sure. Still, I'd like to check it out. As soon as I get a T.V... ------------------ "Uncommon valor was a common virtue"-Adm.Chester Nimitz of the Marines on Iwo Jima Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyrene Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Not to knock on WWII vets or the new Spielberg series, but I really wish some big name talent like Spielberg would turn his attention to the Korean War, battles like the Pusan Perimeter, Seoul and the Chosin pullout would provide great stories that amazingly very few in the US know about. Maybe the poor US performance during the first year of the war made Korea a Hollywood unfriendly topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Leader Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 I think the attention the media and popular culture is showering on WW2 is great. People need to be more aware of the sacrifices made during the "Good War." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skott Karlsson Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Hello, I myself would like to see some great factual stories of heroes from the German, Italian, and Russian side. I'm sure there are alot of really good heroism and human tragedy there too. Of course certain groups wouldn't want any idolizing of Nazi Germany so I dont expect anything to come about. But movies like Das Boot proves it can be done with the right tact. Yes, the korean War is muchly forgotten too. I aso would enjoying seeing the Korean theatre get more attention. Havent seen a good WWI movie in some time either. Seems like Hollywood concentrates mostly on the American Civil War and WWII. ~Skott~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Clark Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Sheesh! People will fricking complain about ANYTHING... Anyway, thanks a ton for that update Pak40! $120 million! Woo Hoo! That's about 6 times the budget I originally heard mentioned! Hopefully it will all get compiled onto a DVD set in time for X-Mas. ------------------ "Fear is for the enemy... Fear and Bullets." "They didn't want to come... but I told em, by jeepers, it was an order." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Leader Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 I don't think all (12 is it?) episodes will have even been SHOWN by Christmas. I don't think they will start airing them until late fall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimShady Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Originally posted by Warmaker: Did U.S. troops capture the Eagle's Nest? Somehow I don't think so, but not sure. Yup, read the book. There's a picture of Major Winters(?) on top of Hitler's Mercedes Benz (after some of the company decided to test how bulletproof the bulletproof windows really were). Also, there's a picture of Captain Nixon after raiding the Eagle Nest's wine cellar... LimShady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmatt Posted April 8, 2001 Share Posted April 8, 2001 Sorry, to intrude. Just testing something here. Madmatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted April 8, 2001 Share Posted April 8, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Madmatt: Sorry, to intrude. Just testing something here. Madmatt<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Whatever it was you were testing, it didn't work. Kitty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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