Before the premiere of HBO’s epic, $200-million World War II miniseries "The Pacific," I had the privledge to talk with screenwriter and co-executive producer Bruce C. McKenna for MakingOf.com. McKenna, one of the main writers on "Band Of Brothers," was recruited by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman to help create the eagerly-awaited follow up. "The Pacific" tracks the intertwined real life story of three U.S. Marines across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theater during World War II. In part one of our exclusive interview, McKenna describes his high profile collaborators as being "extremely emotionally invested in the story." The time the Marines spent in the Pacific Theater was long and more intense and emotional than one could imagine. Spielberg wanted the seven year production to be a personal, intense journey as well. He told his collaborators "No blinking – I want to see the moral cost of the war on my characters." Key to the series was the "unification of this vision by everyone involved." McKenna explains how the scripts were in the service of Spielberg’s vision and the honest, raw tone of Marines Robert Leckie and Eugene B. Sledge’s memoirs from which the miniseries are based. He also shares that Tom Hanks was so connected to the story that he did significant script re-writes himself. "Writers never like to be rewritten, but when it’s Tom Hanks and his name is above the title, it’s a huge sign of respect."
Click here for more behind the scenes details on the creation of the 10-part miniseries "The Pacific."
"The Pacific" premieres Sunday, March 14 at 9pm on HBO.
