'After completing Saving Private Ryan together, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were both considering separate World War II projects. Spielberg was interested in adapting Stephen E. Ambrose’s Citizen Soldiers, and Hanks was interested in Ambrose’s Band Of Brothers. The two decided to collaborate on Band Of Brothers, which follows one group of men from the first day of training through the end of the war, hitting all of the major elements in the European theater - D-Day, Holland, Market-Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and the capture of Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. This very personal narration lets the reader get to know these soldiers as ordinary men, what they cared about and feared, how they spoke, how they related to each other, and what was important to them. Such a story makes the enormous scale and scope of World War II approachable.
'Having collaborated with HBO on the Emmy-winning miniseries From The Earth To The Moon, Hanks suggested doing the same with Band Of Brothers, because, he notes, "I have a great history with HBO, we’ve done this kind of thing before. They understand the type of authenticity we’re going for and they throw away all the rules - we can say what we want to, the stories can last as long as they need to, and we, as storytellers, think that’s very important." Tony To, who also worked on From The Earth To The Moon, joined the production team, and casting began.' (The Pirate Bay magnet link).