LOS ANGELES—The debut of BAND OF BROTHERS, the 10-part miniseries based on Stephen Ambrose's nonfiction best seller about a World War II U.S. Army unit, has been set for September. Produced by Band Of Brothers Ltd. on behalf of The Playtone Company and DreamWorks SKG, with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks (executive producer of the Emmy®-winning HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon") serving as executive producers. The majority of the production facilities for BAND OF BROTHERS are based at the former Hatfield Aerodrome, near London, which also served as the location base for Spielberg's production of "Saving Private Ryan." The BBC will have exclusive television rights to the miniseries in the UK.

BAND OF BROTHERS will be letterboxed and broadcast in high definition format on HBO's East and West HDTV satellite channels, marking the first time an HBO miniseries has been available in high definition. HBO HDTV currently offers approximately 60 percent of all theatrical motion pictures and HBO original movies in high definition each month. Post-production on the miniseries is taking place at Cinesite London utilizing a revolutionary all-digital film finishing process.

The directors of the miniseries are Tom Hanks ("That Thing You Do!"), David Frankel ("Miami Rhapsody"), David Leland ("Wish You Were Here"), Richard Loncraine ("Richard III," starring Ian McKellen), David Nutter ("Disturbing Behavior"), Phil Alden Robinson ("Field of Dreams"), Mikael Salomon ("Hard Rain") and Tony To (HBO's "From the Earth to the Moon").

Actors appearing in BAND OF BROTHERS include Nicholas Aaron, Kirk Acevedo, Doug Allen, Eion Bailey, Philip Barrantini, Jonie Broom, George Calil, Ben Caplan, Keir Charles, Alexis Conran, Dominic Cooper, Michael Cutlitz, Dale Dye, Michael Fassbinder, Simon Fenton, Dexter Fletcher, Ezra Godden, Rick Gomez, Stephen Graham, James Greene, Luke Griffin, Scott Grimes, Craig Heaney, Nolan Hemmings, Peter Young-Blood Hills, Andrew Howard, Nigel Hoyle, Frank John Hughes, Adam James, Robin Laing, Mark Lawrence, Matthew Leitch, Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, James Madio, Tim Matthews, Peter McCabe, Ross McCall, Neal McDonough, Phil McKee, Benjamin Montague, David Nicholson, Jason O'Mara, Ben Payton, Dave Power, Bart Ruspoli, David Schwimmer, Andrew Scott, Mathew Settle, Richard Speight, Jr., Shane Taylor, Donnie Wahlberg, Ben Walden, Rick Warden, Marc Warren, Paul Williams and Jonathan Young.

Tony To (co-executive producer of "From the Earth to the Moon") and Gary Goetzman of The Playtone Company are co-executive producers of BAND OF BROTHERS. Mary Richards ("Elizabeth") is the UK producer. Erik Bork is supervising producer; Erik Jendresen is consulting producer. Anne Thomopoulos, senior vice president, HBO Original Programming, west coast, and Carmi Zlotnik, senior vice president, HBO production and creative operations, are the HBO representatives overseeing the project.

Stephen Ambrose's best-selling book "Band of Brothers" tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Starting with their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942, it recounts the achievements of the elite rifle company, which parachuted into France early on D-Day morning, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and captured Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. Drawn from hours of interviews with survivors, as well as soldiers' journals and letters, "Band of Brothers" chronicles a unit that took 150 percent casualties and became true American heroes.

Ambrose's book was praised by critics, with the San Francisco Chronicle calling it a "first class explanation of what crack infantry troops are about," while Publishers Weekly hailed it as a "terrific read for WW II action buffs."