When Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman get together to tell stories from the battlefields of WWII, you know you’re in for something special. The trio behind Band of Brothers and The Pacific are together again for Masters of the Air, and Apple knows they have a big deal miniseries on their hands. They’ve just dropped the first image from the series, which will premiere on the streamer on January 26th, 2024 with two episodes.
The ensemble cast is led by Austin Butler, Callum Turner, and Barry Keoghan, three of the hottest actors working today, two of them recent Oscar nominees. The series is based on Donald L. Miller‘s 2007 book about young men in the 100th Bomb Group during WWII.
Here’s the synopsis: 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 “Masters of the Air.” 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,” Goetzman said in a press statement. “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.”
Hanks, Spielberg, and Goetzman serve as exec-producers, a collaboration between Apple, Playtone, and Amblin Television.
Directors on the series include Cary Joji Fukunaga, Dee Rees, Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, and Tim Van Patten.