Apple TV+ has grabbed the rights to the sequel of ‘Band Of Brothers‘, HBO’s award-winning limited series on World War II. The sequel is titled ‘Masters Of The Air’, and it comes from the same team that created ‘Band Of Brothers’, and ‘The Pacific’, another much-awarded HBO series on the World War II.
‘Masters Of The Air’ has a stellar cast in place. Nate Mann (Ray Donovan) has just signed on to play the lead role of Major Rosie Rosenthal. Anthony Boyle (Plot Against America, Tolkien) is also onboard the series and will play the role of Major Crosby in the Apple TV+ series. Austin Butler (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) and Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) are part of the ensemble cast, and will portray Major Gale Cleven and Major John Egan, respectively.
‘Masters Of The Air’ is being adapted from Donald L. Miller’s nonfiction novel, “Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany”, and will chronicle the deeply affecting true story of the young men who flew the American bombers with courage, conviction and cunning, and helped bring Nazi Germany to its knees.
‘Masters Of The Air’ will be produced by Apple Studios, with Steven Spielberg (Amblin Entertainment) and Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman (Playtone Productions) serving as executive producers.
The series is written by ‘Band of Brothers’ writers John Orloff and Graham Yost. Both writers will also serve as co-executive producers.
‘Band of Brothers’ and ‘The Pacific’ are both multiple Emmy Awards winners for HBO. ‘Masters of the Air’ was also being developed initially for HBO, but a rejig at HBO left it open to acquisition. Apple TV+ moved in for the kill and grabbed ‘Masters Of The Air’ before any other streamer could.
The series will span 10 episodes, with a budget apparently upwards of $200 million. The Band Of Brothers sequel is a great catch for Apple TV+, which is slowly building up a compelling slate of titles.