“Band of Brothers” writer Bruce McKenna is teaming with David Broyles (“Six”) and Nick Jones Jr. (“Yasuke”) to write and produce a limited TV series “Buffalo Rangers” about the 2nd Ranger Company, the only all-Black special operations combat unit in U.S. history. They were notable for their efforts in the Korean War.
The series is being produced by South Korea-based Moving Pictures Company, which has a growing English-language slate. No broadcaster or streamer has been announced.
Producing alongside Broyles, Jones and McKenna are Thomas Suh (through his production company Système D Entertainment), Paul Merryman (“The Outpost”), Debra Martin Chase (“Harriet,” CBS’s “The Equalizer”) and Jariko Denman (“The Outpost”), a retired master sergeant with 15 combat deployments.
Tim McCoy, a 2nd Ranger company historian for many years, will serve as a consultant to the project.
The 2nd Rangers were made of volunteers from other army regiments and were commanded by Black officers. Their nickname stems from the famous 19th century all-Black cavalry unit stationed on the American frontier.
In 1951, during the Korean War, they participated in the first Ranger combat jump, and then, undermanned, ill-equipped and worn down by months of combat — outnumbered more than fifteen to one — held off an attack of over a thousand Chinese infantry at Hill 581.
“Neglected by history, it’s time these true American heroes got their due,” said McKenna.
“As a Black man and a veteran, to help tell the story of these brave men who endured the many hardships of racism while serving our country is truly an incredible honor,” said Jones, a military veteran-turned-screenwriter. “Their duty and courage helped pave the way for a better military for men and women who look like me.”
“Anytime I have the opportunity to write about the thrill and terror of combat and its unbreakable bonds, it’s personal, and I feel a great responsibility to get it right. But when I heard about the Buffalo Rangers and their little-known story of heroism in the face of overwhelming odds both at home and at war, I knew this was different,” said Broyles, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the U.S. Air Force.
Martin Chase called the project, “a true, forgotten, classic action tale about Black men who displayed amazing courage and heroism in the face of war and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.”
Moving Pictures Company is also working on a TV adaptation of Jim Frederick and Charles Robert Jenkins’ acclaimed non-fiction book, “The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea,” with Peter Landesman directing.
McKenna is represented by CAA and Flashpoint Entertainment. Broyles is represented by Grandview and A3 Artists Agency. Jones is represented by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
