Five legendary directors gather for Netflix’s Five Came Back trailer

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

If there's one thing I haven't taken advantage of during the several years in which I've owned a Netflix subscription, it's the premium streaming network's respectable library of documentary films. Now, after watching the trailer for FIVE CAME BACK, I'm thinking that a break in my habitual watching of Netflix original series and anime might be in order.

With narration by Meryl Streep, FIVE CAME BACK features interviews with some of the most iconic filmmakers in cinematic history – Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Greengrass and Lawrence Kasdan. The series itself will be presented as a three-part docu-series – with Speilberg, Scott Rudin and Barry Diller set to executively produce the project which is based on the best-selling book by author Mark Harris entitled Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War.

As the series rolls out, Spielberg, Coppola, del Toro, Greengrass and Kasdan will discuss how Hollywood clashed against World War II, but specifically, how the actions of filmmakers John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens took their messages to the people by way of the silver screen.

Alongside FIVE CAME BACK, Netflix will also launch 13 other documentaries that are featured in the documentary. Among the titles chosen are Ford's THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY, Wyler's THE MEMPHIS BELLE: A STORY OF FLYING FORTRESS, Huston's REPORT FROM THE ALEUTIANS, Capra's THE BATTLE OF RUSSIA, Stevens' NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS, and Stuart Heisler's THE NEGRO SOLDIER.

The series will be directed by Laurent Bouzereau and is expected to premiere through Netflix on March 31, 2017.