Apparently, before “No Time To Die” is going to even grace theater screens next April, director Cary Fukunaga is going to be on set yet again, this time for Apple TV+, working on a WWII epic series, “Masters of the Air.”
According to Deadline, Fukunaga is set to direct the first three hour-long episodes of the upcoming Apple TV+ World War II drama series, “Masters of the Air.” The series, which was previously announced last October, will come from producers Steven Spielberg and his Amblin production company, as well as Tom Hanks and his Playtone shingle. As you might expect from Spielberg and Hanks being involved, “Masters of the Air” is expected to serve as a bit of a spiritual successor to previous major WWII series, “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.” This time, however, the series focuses on the US and British bomber pilots that brought the war to the German doorstep during the conflict.
As mentioned, Fukunaga is next going to release his James Bond feature, “No Time to Die.” That film is long since in the can but has been delayed from its original April 2020 release date to April 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, Fukunaga was best known for his TV work, having directed the first season of “True Detective” and, most recently, the Netflix genre-bending series, “Maniac.” Obviously, he’s one of the most in-demand filmmakers in Hollywood and having him attached to “Masters of the Air” shows just how committed Apple TV+ and the producers are to making this series as big as humanly possible.
Scale shouldn’t be much of an issue, of course, when you’re dealing with a reported budget of around $200 million for the 10-episode series. Apple is sparing no expense to bring “Masters of the Air” to life and if Fukunaga is helming three episodes, the only question remains who the producers will bring on for the other seven. Filming is set to begin in March of next year.