- Content: 
By Kayla DeKraker
Academy Award-winning actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks continues his long-standing interest in World War II history with a new documentary project.
Titled WORLD WAR II WITH TOM HANKS, the 20-part docuseries will offer “a sweeping and definitive retelling” of the 20th century war.
“For 80 years, World War II has remained the most devastating and defining conflict in human history. Coming in May 2026, The HISTORY Channel’s WORLD WAR II WITH TOM HANKS is a landmark documentary event that reexamines the war through the lens of a new century,” the National WWII Museum said of the series.
The Museum continued, “Told over 20 hours and guided by Hanks, whose lifelong passion for this history has shaped some of the most profound screen portrayals of the era, the series captures the full arc of the war — from the rise of fascism in Europe to the fall of Berlin, from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, and the uneasy peace that follows.”
Related: Tom Hanks’ Son ‘Grateful’ for Parents Through Sobriety Journey
“For six dark years,” Hanks says in the teaser trailer, “the world was on fire.”
“The series explores the human cost of total war, including the Holocaust, civilian resistance, and life on the home fronts, while also revealing the hidden wars of espionage, codebreaking, and industrial might that shaped the outcome of the conflict,” a synopsis says.
“Blending the actions and decisions of pivotal wartime leaders — among them Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Erwin Rommel, Joseph Stalin, Hideki Tojo and Adolf Hitler — with the experiences of soldiers and civilians across continents,” it continues, “the series culminates in the dawn of the atomic age and the uneasy aftermath that transformed wartime allies into Cold War adversaries, offering a comprehensive and deeply human portrait of the conflict that reshaped the modern world.”
“World War II changed everything…for all of us,” concludes Hanks in the trailer.
The WWII series is executive produced by Gary Goetzman and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham. The production is by Nutopia with executive producers Ben Goold, Jane Root and Steve Condie, and A+E Factual Studios Group, whose executive producers include Sharon Scott, Steve Ascher, Matt Pearl, and Andy Seestedt.
The project is created in association with Motion Entertainment, where Chet Fenster serves as executive producer. Executive producers for History Channel are Eli Lehrer, Mary E. Donahue and Jennifer Wagman.
Hanks’ interest in WWII led him to work on numerous other projects about the conflict, including BAND OF BROTHERS, THE PACIFIC, MASTERS OF THE AIR and GREYHOUND. He also narrated the documentary THE BLOODY HUNDREDTH, which tells the story of the 100th Bomb Group’s real-life heroes.
Movieguide® praised its “captivating overview of the bombing group and its brave fighting force. It has a strong Pro-American, patriotic, moral worldview with a strong sense of sacrifice, a commitment to freedom, and an opposition to the tyranny and mass murder of Hitler’s National Socialist forces.”
WORLD WAR II WITH TOM HANKS premieres on Memorial Day, May 25, 2026.
Read Next: Tom Hanks on Playing the Iconic Fred Rogers
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +2