When you take Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, World War II, and drop them into the same project, then history has shown that expectations should be placed suitably high. With that in mind, Masters of the Air has a lot to live up to now that Apple TV’s long-delayed series has finally settled on a release date.
It was only earlier this week we remarking on the fact nobody seemed to notice the rumored release date of Sept. 20 that popped up on IMDb out of nowhere a while back had come and gone without so much as an update on where the project stood, but that’s now been changed after the epic episodic adventure was confirmed for a Jan. 26, 2024 debut.
Boasting such well-known names as Academy Award nominee Austin Butler, incoming Doctor Who star – as well as Barbie and Sex Education veteran – Ncuti Gatwa, and Marvel Cinematic Universe alumni/Matt Reeves’ Joker Barry Keoghan among the ensemble, Masters of the Air will act as a companion piece to both Band of Brothers and The Pacific, sharing narrative and thematic DNA along with the shared presence of Saving Private Ryan duo Hanks and Spielberg as executive producers.
Reports indicated that the budget for the limited series is within touching distance of the $300 million mark, which is a hefty chunk of change to spend on what’s only been pegged as a nine-episode run, but if it matches up to any of its predecessors in terms of quality then it should be well worth the investment.