The producers of acclaimed television shows that focused on U.S. Army and Marine Corps units during World War II are turning their focus to the U.S. Army Air Forces.
“Masters of the Air,” which will focus on the 8th Air Force during its bombing campaign over Nazi Germany, is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on Jan. 26, 2024, the streaming service announced Oct. 5.
The producing team of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman previously created ‘Band of Brothers,’ about paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division in their campaign through Europe, and ‘The Pacific,’ about the 1st Marine Division’s fight against Japan. Both shows were praised for their visceral, realistic portrayals of combat.
“Masters of the Air” will highlight the intense aerial combat of the war. More than 26,000 members of the ‘Mighty Eighth’ Air Force were killed during the bombing campaign, about 30 percent more than the number of Marines killed in the entirety of World War II.
The show is based on the book of the same name written by Donald L. Miller, a history professor at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. According to Apple press release, the show “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.”
The psychological and emotional toll is at the heart of the series, the release added. Locations include the southeast English fields and villages where bomber crews lived and worked and the German prisoner of war camps where many service members ended up.
The 100th Bomb Group lives on today in the form of the 100th Air Refueling Wing, a KC-135 aerial refueling tanker unit at Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom. The unit still sports the iconic ‘Square D’ badge first used on B-17 bombers during World War II.
“‘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 the press release. “Tom and Steven have always wanted to visualize cinematically what our author Don Miller has called, this ‘singular event in the history of warfare.’”
Two episodes will premiere on Jan. 26, with a new episode every Friday through March 15, 2024, a total of nine episodes for the limited series. The cast includes Austin Butler, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of musician Elvis Presley in the 2022 film ‘Elvis,’ Barry Keoghan, nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 2022 film ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook, and Ncuti Gatwa.
The Oct. 5 announcement comes four years after news first broke that the show was being developed. According to entertainment news website IGN, the show was originally bound for HBO, where “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific” also premiered, “before Apple swooped in and made a deal with Spielberg’s and Hanks’ respective production companies to stream the miniseries exclusively on its Apple TV+ platform.”
Goetzman also produced ‘Greyhound,’ a 2020 film distributed by Apple TV+ in which Hanks starred as a WWII U.S. Navy destroyer commander escorting a convoy across the Atlantic.
Below are promotional images of the show released by Apple, alongside images of the actual 8th Air Force during WWII.
