Back in 2001, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg teamed up to deliver mammoth HBO miniseries Band Of Brothers, which chronicled the training and deployment of the Easy Company of the US Army 101st Airborne Division. It follows their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day. They followed that up with The Pacific in 2010, which switched focus to the Pacific Theatre of the war, as seen through the eyes of several young Marines. That was also for HBO, but Apple TV+ has swooped in with its big guns (guns in this case being wallet) and nabbed the duo's latest collaboration, Masters Of The Air. Which, as you might expect, takes a ride with airmen, and stars Austin Butler. Check out some of the first images on this page…
Based on Donald L. Miller’s book of the same name, and scripted by John Orloff, Masters Of The Air 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.
Portraying the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men as they helped destroy the horror of Hitler’s Third Reich, is at the heart of the show: some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home. Regardless of individual fate, a toll was exacted on them all.
"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,” says 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 cast for this one also includes Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Barry Keoghan, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook, and (because no high profile project is complete without him these days) Ncuti Gatwa.
Apple TV+ is launching this one on 26 January with the first two episodes of nine. Chocks away!