Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks left the public speechless in 2001 when they premiered the miniseries Blood Brothers as producers on a television channel like HBO. The budget of 125 million for the production of ten episodes was an almost crazy idea in the medium and, in addition, Spielberg and Hanks had just released the acclaimed film Saving Private Ryan in 1998, which won five Oscars. And, after joining forces again with producer Gary Goetzman in The Pacific, another war miniseries released in 2010, they have now returned with another proposal set in World War II. The surprising thing is that this time it does not carry the HBO quality seal.
The Masters of the Air is based on the novel by Donald L. Miller about the pilots who fought Nazi forces from the air in 1943. John Orloff, who was already a screenwriter in Blood Brothers, is in charge of the adaptation that aims to talk of the camaraderie, the confusion of flying over the European continent without knowing when you might be a victim of the German defense, the lack of oxygen and the adrenaline that takes them to the 100th Bombardment Group.
“Some were shot down and captured; others were injured or killed. And some were lucky enough to return home. Regardless of individual destinies, everyone paid a price,” is sold from the project.
If Blood Brothers recruited then-young actors like David Schwimmer, Damian Lewis, Neal McDonough and Donnie Wahlberg and The Pacific helped discover Rami Malek before Mr Robot and the Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody, there is no shortage of young talents on the current audiovisual scene in The masters of the air.
There is Austin Butler after being nominated for an Oscar for Elvis, a Barry Keoghan who is enjoying success with Saltburn, Ncuti Gatwa who filmed the miniseries before becoming Doctor Who, Callum Turner from Fantastic Beasts, the complementary saga of Harry Potter, or Isobal May, a surprise in the western 1883. Sawyer Spielberg, the son of Steven Spielberg and actress Kate Capshaw, even appears.
And, while the director of ET or Schindler’s List is reluctant to participate as director, he has Cary Joji Fukunaga, who won the Emmy for visually praising the first season of True Detective. As director of the first four episodes, he lays the foundations for Lords of the Air and then hands over the cameras to Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Dee Rees and Tim Van Patten, who was in The Pacific and is an HBO regular with work on Boardwalk empire and Game of thrones.
But where can you see this miniseries that can be interpreted, without a doubt, as the third part of a war trilogy? On Apple TV, who bid on the creative proposal of Spielberg, Hanks and Goetzman, putting on the table a budget that is estimated to be over $250 million.
At the moment, the first two episodes of the nine episodes that it will have in total are available in the application. The rest are broadcast weekly every Friday until the outcome scheduled for March 15.
