Spielberg And Hanks Go Back To War…

As Saving Private Ryan steam-rolls towards the $200m barrier in the States, director Steven Spielberg and his star Tom Hanks have agreed to develop another World War II project together. Dreamworks Television, part of the SPG production house and co-owned by Spielberg, have acquired the rights to Stephen E Ambrose' respected WWII novel A Band Of Brothers for a reported seven-figure sum. Spielberg, who used Ambrose as a historical consultant on Ryan, will produce the miniseries with Hanks next year. The novel deals with a paratrooper outfit who storm ashore on D-Day, liberate the Dachau concentration camp and then hold a party at Hitler's defunct Headquarters to herald the end of the war. Saving Private Ryan, meanwhile, continues to break records across the globe. A recent preview shown to a select German audience left the crowd "stunned with silence". The graphic epic is due for release in Germany today.