Every 10 years or so, it seems as if Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg scratch their World War II itch and release a new massively expensive miniseries about the event. First, it was 2001’s “Band of Brothers,” which was followed by 2010’s “The Pacific.” Both miniseries were critically acclaimed, earning Emmy wins and huge viewership. Now, 11 years after “The Pacific,” the duo are putting together their cast for the upcoming successor to those series, “Master of the Air.”
According to Deadline, Austin Butler and Callum Turner have been cast in lead roles in the upcoming miniseries, “Masters of the Air,” which is the spiritual sequel to both “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.” “Masters of the Air” is written by John Orloff and Graham Yost, based on the book by Donald L. Miller, and tells the story of American bomber boys and how they brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep during WWII. As mentioned, the series is produced by Spielberg’s Amblin and Hanks’ Playtone production companies. It is set to debut as an Apple Original on the tech company’s streaming service, Apple TV+.
Austin Butler is an up-and-coming actor that really broke out in 2019 thanks to roles in “The Dead Don’t Die” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” He is set to co-star alongside Hanks in the upcoming film, “Elvis,” by director Baz Luhrmann. Turner has starred in films such as “Green Room,” “Mobile Homes,” “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” and last year’s “Emma.” He’s next set to be seen in “The Last Letter from Your Lover” and will return to the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise in that series’ upcoming threequel.
It was previously reported that “No Time to Die” filmmaker Cary Fukunaga is on board to direct at least three of the 10 episodes. The series is reportedly going to carry a $200 million price tag for Apple, so you can fully expect this to rival the production quality of most major films. It’s unclear when filming will begin on the series, but if casting is occurring now, we can assume that Apple would like to have this on its platform sometime in 2022.