''Masters of the Air'' is an upcoming American war drama miniseries based on the actions of the Eighth Air Force of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It is being produced by

Playtone Playtone (stylized on-screen as PLAY•TONE; a.k.a. The Playtone Company) is an American film and television production company established in 1998 by actor Tom Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman. It was named after the fictional record compan ...

, Parliament of Owls, Amblin Television and

Apple Studios Apple Studios is an American film and television production company and a distributor that is a subsidiary of Apple Inc. It specializes in developing and producing television series and films for Apple's digital video streaming service Apple TV ...

Cast

Austin Butler Austin Robert Butler (born August 17, 1991) is an American actor. He began his career on television, first in roles on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon and later on teen dramas, including recurring parts on The CW's ''Life Unexpected'' (2010� ...

as Major Gale Cleven *

Callum Turner Callum Robilliard Turner (born 15 February 1990) is a British actor and model. He is known for his roles as Theseus Scamander in '' Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'' and '' Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore'', Bill Rohan in ...

as Major John Egan *

Anthony Boyle Anthony Boyle (born 8 June 1994) is a Northern Irish actor. A graduate of Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Boyle began his acting career on London stage and rose to prominence for originating the role of Scorpius Malfoy in ...

as Major Harry Crosby *

Nate Mann Nate Mann is an American actor. Mann attended Germantown Academy, graduating in 2015. He would first study acting at Walnut Street Theatre, and then at Juilliard School, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2019. Mann made his stage debut in ...

as Major Robert Rosenthal *Raff Law as Sgt. Ken Lemmons * James Murray as Major Chic Harding * Tommy Jessop * Freddy Carter as Lt.

David Friedkin David Friedkin (March 8, 1912 – October 15, 1976) was an American writer and director of radio shows, film, and television shows. Early life and education Friedkin was born on March 8, 1912 in Kansas City, Missouri to Russian Jewish immigrant ...

* Barry Keoghan as Lt. Curtis Biddick *

Nikolai Kinski Nanhoï Nikolai Kinski (born July 30, 1976) is a French-American film actor, who has also done work in television and on stage. He was born in Paris, and grew up in California. Currently residing in Berlin, he has acted primarily in American and ...

as Colonel Harold Huglin *

Oaklee Pendergast Oaklee Pendergast (born 24 June 2004) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in '' The Impossible'' and '' The Woman in Black: Angel of Death''. Career Pendergast made his acting debut in 2008, appearing in an episode of ''EastEnd ...

as Sgt. William Hinton *

Louis Greatorex Louis Greatorex (born 30 December 1996) is a British actor from Duffield, Derbyshire. His television credits include the BBC1 drama series ''Last Tango in Halifax'', in which he has played Lawrence Elliot since 2012. Life and career Greatorex i ...

as Capt. Joseph Payne * Adam Long as Capt. Bernard DeMarco * Kai Alexander as Sgt. William Quinn * Jordan Coulson as Lt. Howard Hamilton * Fionn O'Shea as Sgt. Steve Bosser *Nitai Levi as Sgt. Paul A. Vrabec, Jr. * Laurie Davidson as Lt. Herbert Nash *Francis Lovehall as Captain Wendell Oliver Pruitt *Bradley Banton as Lieutenant Lee "Buddy" Archer *Edward Ashley as Lt. Col. John B. Kidd *Kieron Moore as Sgt. Clifford Starkey *David Shields as Major Everett Blakely *Jon Ewart as Lt. William Couch *Daniel Briggs as Sgt. William Crabb *George Smale as Lt. Raymond Nutting *James Meunier as Lt. Kenneth Lorch *

Sam Hazeldine Samuel Hazeldine (born 29 March 1972) is an English actor working in film, television and theatre. He is the son of actors James Hazeldine. and Rebecca Moore. Early life Sam Hazeldine was born in Hammersmith, London. He is the son of actors ...

as Col. Albert Clark *Darragh Cowley as Lt. Glenn Graham *Elliot Warren as Lt. James Douglass *Adam Silver as Lt. David Solomon *

Ncuti Gatwa Mizero Ncuti Gatwa ( ; born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. He rose to prominence as Eric Effiong on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Sex Education'' (2019–present), which earned him a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Te ...

as 2nd Lt. Robert Daniels * Josh Bolt as Lt. Winifred "Pappy" Lewis *Ben Radcliffe as Capt. John D. Brady *Sonny Ashbourne Serkis as Lt. James Evans *Jack Franklin as Charles Mylius *Kwame Agyei as Lt. Joseph Evans Gordon * Phillip Lewitski as Lt. Francis Harper *Sawyer Spielberg as Lt. Roy Frank Claytor *Alex Boxall as Sgt. Monroe Thornton *Christopher Lakewood as Col Thomas Jeffery *Ian Dunnett Jnr as Lt. Ron Bailey *Sid Phoenix as Ralph Nist * Robert Hands as Major Gustav Simoleit *

Stephen Campbell Moore Stephen Campbell Moore (born Stephen Moore Thorpe, 30 November 1979) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in Alan Bennett's play '' The History Boys'' and the film based on it. Since 2019, he has starred in the sci-fi television ...

as Major Marvin "Red" Bowman *Jojo Macari as Capt. Oran Petrich * George Webster as Lt. Glenn W. Dye * John Hopkins as Dr. Wendell 'Smokey' Stover

Guest

Joanna Kulig Joanna Kulig (; born 24 June 1982) is a Polish actress and singer, best known for her role in the 2018 historical drama film ''Cold War'', which earned her the European Film Award for Best Actress. Her other notable credits include the films '' ...

as Paulina *

Bel Powley Isobel Dorothy Powley (born 7 March 1992) is an English actress. Powley was born and raised in London, where she was educated at Holland Park School. She began acting as a teenager on television, starring on the CBBC action television series ''M ...

as Alexandra "Sandra" Wingate *

Lauren McQueen Lauren Louise McQueen (born 12 July 1996) is an English actress. She gained prominence through her role as Lily Drinkwell on the Channel 4 soap opera, ''Hollyoaks''. She also appeared on the CBBC school-drama ''4 O'Clock Club'' as Rachel and on ...

as Rose *David Nolden as Hans *

Cameron Ashplant Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 19 ...

as Clerk

Production

Eighth_Air_Force_-_Emblem_(World_War_II)

Reports of a third

based miniseries in the same vein as '' Band of Brothers'' and '' The Pacific'' developed by

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

and Steven Spielberg began in October 2012, focusing on

aircrews of the Mighty Eighth. In January 2013, HBO confirmed it was developing the miniseries, based on Donald L. Miller's book ''Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany''. In October 2019, it was reported that Apple had made a deal with Spielberg's and Hanks's respective production companies to stream the series exclusively on

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

instead of HBO. HBO confirmed that it decided not to move forward with the series in a statement. ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...

'' reported the series contains ten episodes at a production cost of over $200 million, while ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' said it contains nine episodes at a production cost of $250 million. The website Footsteps Research reported the series would focus on the 100th Bombardment Group of the Eighth Air Force. In October 2020,

Cary Joji Fukunaga Cary Joji Fukunaga (born July 10, 1977) is an American filmmaker. He first gained recognition for writing and directing the 2009 film '' Sin nombre'' and the 2011 adaptation of ''Jane Eyre''. He was the first director of partial East Asian des ...

was announced to be directing the first three episodes of the series. In February 2021,

and

were cast to star in the series.

and

joined the cast in March, with Raff Law, James Murray and Tommy Jessop added in April. Freddy Carter revealed his casting in a May interview, while set photos revealed Barry Keoghan was also cast. In June,

Dee Rees Diandrea Rees (born February 7, 1977) is an American screenwriter and director. She is known for her feature films '' Pariah'' (2011), '' Bessie'' (2015), '' Mudbound'' (2017), and '' The Last Thing He Wanted'' (2020). Rees has also written and d ...

was announced as directing episodes of the series. In July,

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck Anna Boden and Ryan K. Fleck are an American filmmaking duo. They are best known for their collaborations on the films '' Half Nelson'', ''Sugar'', '' It's Kind of a Funny Story'', '' Mississippi Grind'' and '' Captain Marvel''. Early life ...

were also announced as directing episodes. Colleen Atwood will serve as costume designer. In February 2021, it was reported that production in Britain had begun, at Dalton Barracks in Oxfordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Retrospective temporary 12 month planning permission has been applied for at

Newland Park, Chalfont St Peter Newland Park is a Grade II listed country house and estate near the village of Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire. History Henry Gott bought Newland Park in c. 1770 where he entertained King George III, and, in 1785, erected an obelisk called ...

, following the construction of a WWII barracks on the site. Filming paused briefly in July due to positive

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

tests. Production also occurred in

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a new ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masters of the Air English-language television shows Upcoming drama television series Apple TV+ original programming World War II television drama series American military television series Aviation television series Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Television series based on actual events Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television series by Playtone Television shows based on non-fiction books Television shows filmed in England United States Army Air Forces Television series about the United States Army

Cast

Guest

Production

See also

References

External links