For his fourth Netflix film, Tyler Perry is looking to inject a fresh angle into the massive pantheon of WWII dramas. Instead of watching the same aces shoot at each other from wildly-painted biplanes or following a ragtag team try to break into Hitler’s bunker, he’ll be focusing on the trailblazers of the 6888th Battalion. It was the first all-Black, all-female battalion, comprised of 855 women whose duty was to get through a gargantuan backlog of vital mail that hadn’t made it to troops. That includes letters and cards and all the things that helped keep the fighting men sane during the fight.
Six Triple Eight will shine a spotlight on these women, who served in Britain and France to get millions and millions of packages and letters to their rightful recipients throughout Europe. They were guided by a self-styled motto: “No mail, low morale.”
Perry will write and direct the project, adapting a WWII History Magazine article by Kevin M. Hymel. It sounds a bit like Monuments Men meets Hidden Figures, with a dash of Imitation Game. Wartime prestige and a big logistical lift with plenty of room for different characters to shine.
The film comes on the heels of President Joe Biden awarding the women of the 6888th the Congressional Gold Medal, which means we could see the film hit Netflix around the same time specially minted coins of these women hit circulation. It’s always serious synergy to have the United States Mint help with your movie’s advertising campaign.
(via Netflix)