Peter Berg's New Film Gets Wrecked by a Parrot (Yes, Really)

Peter Berg's got a new film called "The Mosquito Bowl" based on Buzz Bissinger's book about four college football players who get pulled into the war. Sounds straightforward enough for a guy who's directed everything from Friday Night Lights to Lone Survivor. Except it wasn't.

According to Variety, Berg ran into problems on set that had nothing to do with stunt choreography or historical accuracy. A parrot — an actual bird — became one of his biggest headaches during production. No real details yet on what exactly went down between the director and the fowl, but the headline alone tells you this thing was a genuine problem.

The cast includes Nicholas Galitzine, Ray Nicholson, Bill Skarsgård, and Tom Francis as the four leads. That's solid talent, but apparently nobody briefed them on working with difficult animals on set. Or maybe the parrot just had a bad day.

It's wild that a major production with this kind of pedigree would get derailed by something like this — but that's filmmaking. Sometimes the smallest variables become your biggest obstacles.

Read the full story at Variety → https://variety.com/2026/artisans/news/the-mosquito-bowl-peter-berg-parrot-1236935619/