The team that brought youBand of BrothersandThe Pacificis at it again. Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Playtone, the production company owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, will adapt Donald L. Miller’s nonfiction novelMasters Of The Airfor Apple. The limited series will air exclusively on Apple’s upcoming streaming service,Apple TV+.
Spielberg, Hanks, and Goetzman will serve as executive producers on the series, which tells the story of the Eighth Air Force, or the Mighty Eighth, a group of pilots that changed the course of World War II.Masters of the Airwill be written byBand of Brothersscribe John Orloff.Deadlinereports that the series will be about eight hours long, and will cost around $200 million to produce.
Interestingly,Masters of the Airwill be the first Apple TV+ series filmed at Apple’s own production studio, which is also called Masters. Apple executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht will oversee the studio,Varietysays.
Masters of the Airmarks yet another instance of Apple poaching top-tier talent from its streaming service competitors.Band of BrothersandThe Pacific, both of which Spielberg and Hanks produced, aired on HBO, where they earned a cumulative 43 Emmy nominations and won 14.Masters of the Airwas also set to debut on the premium network, but HBO decided to pass on the project earlier this year, opening the door for Apple to swoop in and pick it up.
That’s becoming something of a trend. Just yesterday, Alfonso Cuarón, director ofNetflix’s Oscar-winning filmRoma, signedan exclusive deal with Appleto produce TV content for Apple TV+. That deal is said to last for five years.
In addition toMasters of the Air, Steven Spielberg is producing a revival of the sci-fi anthology seriesAmazing Storiesfor Apple TV+. The originalAmazing Stories, which Spielberg created, ran on NBC for two seasons in the mid-’80s.
Apple TV+ launches on August 20, 2025, at $5 a month. Despite thestaggering number of big namessigned on for Apple TV+ content, analysts have expressed concerns about the service’slimited libraryand its overall effect on the streaming economy, which could be todrive up subscription pricesacross the board.
