David Farnor | On 09, Nov 2023

“Let’s rack ’em up and knock ’em down…” That’s the sound of the Masters of the Air taking flight on Apple TV+ – and a new trailer gives us a first look at the series.

Reuniting the team of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman who also produced Band of Brothers and The Pacific, the action-packed drama follows the true story of an American bomber group in World War II. Based on Donald L Miller’s book of the same name, and scripted by John Orloff, the nine-part series follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the Bloody Hundredth) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air. Some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home.

The series stars Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Academy Award nominee Barry Keoghan, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook and Ncuti Gatwa. You can see them in action on 26th January 2024, with two episodes arriving together followed by weekly episodes on Fridays until the finale on 15th March.

Here’s the video:

 

First look: Masters of the Air lands on Apple TV+ in January

5th October 2023

Masters of the Air will take flight on Apple TV+ in January 240, and new images give us a first look at the series.

Reuniting the team of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman who also produced Band of Brothers and The Pacific, the action-packed drama follows the true story of an American bomber group in World War II. Based on Donald L Miller’s book of the same name, and scripted by John Orloff, the nine-part series follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the Bloody Hundredth) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air. Some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home.

“Masters of the Air is a salute to the brave men of the 8th Air Force, who, through their courage and brotherhood, helped defeat Nazi Germany in World War II,” said executive producer Gary Goetzman. “Tom and Steven have always wanted to visualize cinematically what our author Don Miller has called, this ‘singular event in the history of warfare.’ We’re thrilled that Apple TV+ has given us the opportunity to combine the efforts of so many talented people, on-screen and behind the camera, to tell this important story.”

The series stars Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Academy Award nominee Barry Keoghan, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook and Ncuti Gatwa. You can see them in action on 26th January 2024, with two episodes arriving together followed by weekly episodes on Fridays until the finale on 15th March.

 

 

Masters of the Air: Cary Fukunaga to direct Spielberg’s Apple TV+ epic

9th October 2020

Cary Fukunaga has come aboard Masters of the Air, the Apple TV+ follow-up to Band of Brothers.

The World War II HBO miniseries, and its successor The Pacific, earned a total of 43 Emmy nominations and 14 wins between them. Last year, Spielberg’s Amblin Television and Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone made a deal with Apple to produce the third in the thematic trilogy. While not much has been heard about it since, Spielberg and Hanks have found a helmer to steer the show through its opening episodes.

Fukunaga, who was about to be busy with a lot of press coverage for the now-delayed No Time to Die, will direct the first three episodes of the 10-episode series, reports Deadline, marking his return to the small screen following Netflix’s Maniac.

The adaptation of the Donald L. Miller book Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany is being penned by Band of Brothers veterans John Orloff and Graham Yost. It will tell the story of the American and British bombers who brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep.

Deadline also reports that the series will cost more than $200 million to produce, with production expected to begin in London next March.

 

Masters of the Air: Spielberg and Hanks fly to Apple TV+ for Band of Brothers follow-up

14th October 2019

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are reuniting for a Band of Brothers follow-up at Apple TV+.

The World War II HBO miniseries, and its successor The Pacific, earned a total of 43 Emmy nominations and 14 wins between them. Now, Masters of the Air, the third in the thematic trilogy, is on the way, but at Apple’s growing streaming platform rather than HBO.

John Orloff, who adapted two Band of Brothers episodes from the Stephen Ambrose book and was a consultant on The Pacific, is penning the drama, based on the Donald L. Miller book Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany.

Spielberg’s Amblin Television and Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone have made a deal with Apple to produce the series, marking the first project where Apple will serve as the studio. Spielberg, Hanks and Goetzman will be the executive producers, alongside co-EPs Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey of Amblin, Steven Shareshian of Playtone, plus Orloff and Band of Brothers veteran Graham Yost.

The series is expected to run for at least eight episodes and cost more than $200 million. The mammoth project was announced this weekend, just as Apple TV+ also inked a landmark overall deal with Alfonso Cuarón. It also follows another Spielberg project in the works at Apple TV+, the reboot of anthology series Amazing Stories.

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