More than two decades after the release of Band of Brothers, HBO’s stellar World War Two drama, comes Masters of the Air, a new nine-parter from the same award-winning team.
Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman reunite to tell the story of the 8th Air Force, an American bomber group who made decisive strikes in the war effort against Nazi Germany. Some first-look images of the new series have now been released.
The upcoming Apple TV+, which will premiere in January, is based on the 2007 fictional book by historian Donald L Miller, which draws on interviews, oral histories, and archives to tell a story of the war from the perspective of the soldiers who took to the skies.
The book covers everything from the terrifying battles 25,000 feet in the air, to the effects of the bombing on German cities and German people. It drills down on the lives of the crew’s life in England between their precarious missions, and the bond that developed between the men who were put under such emotional and physical pressure. The book also details what happened to the soldiers who survived being shot down and were placed in German prison camps.
“Tom and Steven have always wanted to visualise cinematically what our author Don Miller has called, this ‘singular event in the history of warfare’,” said executive producer Goetzman. “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.”
As with Band of Brothers, the new series features an all-star cast including Oscar-nominees Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, Callum Turner (Emma), Anthony Boyle (Tolkien), Nate Mann (Licorice Pizza), Rafferty Law (Twist), Josiah Cross (King Richard), Branden Cook (Industry), and Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education).
The upcoming series has been scripted by Band of Brothers writer John Orloff.
Band of Brothers, which told the story of a company of paratroopers who were dropped into Germany on D-Day, was a huge hit when it was released. It was nominated for 16 Emmys, winning seven including the award for Outstanding Miniseries, and won a Golden Globe award for Best Miniseries or Television Film.
Following the show’s success, Spielberg, Hanks and Goetzman made The Pacific (2010), a spin-off show about an American company’s efforts during the Second World War in the Pacific. With a score co-composed by Hans Zimmer, and a cast that included James Badge Dale and Rami Malek, the show was also well-received, picking up 15 Emmy nominations, and winning the coveted Outstanding Miniseries award.
See below for more first-look images of the upcoming show
