Apple orders a Band of Brothers follow-up from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, costing $250 million

The Hollywood Reporter

The nine-episode Masters of the Air will form the third series in Spielberg's and Hanks' World War II saga, which began in 2001 with the 10-episode Band of Brothers and the 10-episode The Pacific, also on HBO, in 2010. Masters of the Air focuses on the enlisted men of the Eighth Air Force, known as the Mighty Eighth, who brought the war to Hitler's doorstep. Masters of the Air will become the first show in Apple's newly announced in-house studio. Why didn't Masters of the Air end up on HBO? The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg explains: "Sources say HBO released the series — focused on historian Donald L. Miller's nonfiction book Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany — ages ago and before WarnerMedia became its new corporate parent. The decision, sources say, was based on the price tag for the series, which is said to clock in at an estimated $250 million. Also a factor was the fact that DVD sales were largely responsible for turning pricey awards winners The Pacific and Brothers into financial hits. With the DVD market imploding amid the explosion of streaming, sources say HBO opted to dedicated those resources elsewhere."