Apple TV+ today announced the premiere date for its highly-anticipated miniseries ‘Masters of the Air‘, which is a sequel follow-up to the award-winning ‘Band of Brothers’ and ‘The Pacific’ HBO series. It is based on the book of the same name by Donald Miller, which details the battles of the American 8th Air Force during World War II.
Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, Masters of the Air will premiere on January 26, 2024, with the first two episodes. The cast includes Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Barry Koeghan, Ncuti Gatwa and more.
The show will follow the young men of the 100th Bomb Group as they execute bombings over Nazi Germany, dealing with freezing temperatures and oxygen deprivation at 25,000 feet up in the air.
It will feature fighter plane battles, the ground experiences of the pilots’ time in England, and depictions of living in the Germany prisoner-of-war camps.
This represents one of Apple TV+’s biggest productions ever. In a press release, Apple called the show a cinematic achievement:
Ranging in location from the bucolic fields and villages of southeast England, to the harsh deprivations of a German prisoner-of-war camp, and depicting a unique and crucial time in world history, “Masters of the Air” is enormous in both scale and scope, and a genuine cinematic achievement.
Although no trailer is released yet, Apple previously previewed a short clip of Masters of the Air during its June WWDC keynote, as one of the videos played in the TV app during the Apple Vision Pro demo.
Production for a prestige premium aerial warfare show does not come cheap. Masters of the Air was originally in development at HBO, but spiralling costs saw the project cut loose. Apple snapped up the rights back in 2019 and fully funded the production under its in-house Apple Studios banner, footing the bill for the ambitious series which is estimated to cost as much as $250 million for the 9 episodes.
You can add Masters of the Air to your Up Next queue in the TV app now. The first two episodes will premiere on January 26, followed by one new episode weekly through March 15.
See everything coming to Apple TV+ in our comprehensive show guide.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments