Anticipated for many years with a cast of rising Hollywood stars, this war series with a huge budget will create an event at the start of 2024.
Fans of Brothers in Arms have been patiently waiting for 22 years and 13 years of Hell in the Pacific for the release of a new war series set during World War II. After this long wait, this series finally sees the light of day and becomes the event of the beginning of 2024. And after the paratroopers and the Marines, this one focuses, this time, on the American Air Force .
In addition to its slow gestation, Masters of the Air, which begins broadcasting this week, is a project that brings together big names in American cinema behind the camera, already at work on Band of Brothers and The Pacific. It is produced by acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, accustomed to blockbuster blockbusters like Indiana Jones or Jurassic Park, but also nervous war films like Saving Private Ryan. In the production, we also find the American actor Tom Hanks, a regular in Spielberg productions (The Terminal, Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can…).
In detail, Masters of the Air describes the daily life of members of the 8th Air Force of the US Air Force. Their mission, as dangerous as it was essential, was to bomb the weapons and strategic locations of the Third Reich during the Second World War. Even if it means losing your life.
To play the soldiers of the American Air Force, rising stars from Hollywood and British cinema were chosen. In the cast, we find, pell-mell, Austin Butler (Elvis, Dune: part 2), Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts 2 and 3), Anthony Boyle (Derry Girls, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Barry Keoghan ( Saltburn, The Banshees of Inisherin), Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education, Doctor Who) or Freddy Carter (Shadow and Bone).
Masters of the Air is a large-scale series with very careful staging, which does not hesitate to offer spectacular aerial battle scenes, an aspect which is rarely highlighted in television series. No wonder the budget for the series is daunting. Several American media outlets have estimated in recent years that the series would have cost between $250 and $300 million, without the precise figure being known.
Masters of the Air begins its broadcast on Apple TV this Friday, January 26, 2024. After the first two episodes are posted online, the rest will be available to discover every Friday, until March 15. Remember that a subscription to Apple TV is available for 9.99 euros per month, but that it is also included in all Canal subscription offers.