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Airdate: Masters of the Air

2024 drama on an American bomber group in World War II reunites Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman.

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Upcoming World War II drama, Masters of the Air, reuniting the Band of Brothers team of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, will screen on Apple TV+ in January.

The nine part series follows the true story of an American bomber group in World War II.

The cast includes Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Barry Keoghan, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook, and Ncuti Gatwa.

“’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,” said executive producer Gary Goetzman. “Tom and Steven have always wanted to visualise 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.”

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.

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.

Hailing from Apple Studios, “Masters of the Air” is executive produced by Spielberg through Amblin Television, and Hanks and Goetzman for Playtone. Amblin Television’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey co-executive produce alongside Playtone’s Steven Shareshian. In addition to writing, Orloff co-executive produces. Graham Yost also serves as co-executive producer.

Two episodes Friday January 26 then weekly on Apple TV+.

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  1. I have been keeping track of this show for what seems like years, I think the production had at least one title change as the negative speculation kept coming whether Spielberg and Hanks were actually going to spend the multi millions necessary to finish their war trilogy which started with the Band of Brothers. When the announcement finally came that Masters of the Air was going to happen, trying to find any information regarding this show was kept well controlled with just brief YouTube clips of the location sets, the attention to period detail did look commendable. I still have my suspicions about the screenplay but will keep my opinions until this show is released, I will say that it is a bit disappointing that this WWII trilogy is mostly about America’s war effort but after Masters of the Air is concluded history buffs may not see these type of period productions again, so I say thank you Steven and Tom, and your production team for your efforts.

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