Band Of Brothers Sequel Masters Of The Air Has Started Filming

Filming has begun on much-anticipated Band of Brothers sequel, Masters of the Air.

The plot follows the true story of the American 'bomber boys' in World War II, who helped bring Hitler's Nazi Germany to its knees.

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks will collaborate once again as executive producers on the miniseries, as they did on Band of Brothers, which was released in 2001 to critical acclaim.

Director Cary Fukunaga confirmed in a post on Instagram that the first week of shooting had concluded on Friday (23 April).

As part of the production, a huge air base set has been erected on the site of a disused university and hotel in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, at a cost of £5 million ($6.94 million), according to the Daily Mail.

The set is comprised of a series of Nissen huts, and US military vehicles are dotted across the site.

The drama will be based on the book of the same name by Donald L. Miller, and has been written by Band of Brothers' John Orloff, who also serves as co-executive producer.

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Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Callum Turner (The Capture) and Anthony Boyle (Derry Girls) will star in the series, with Line of Duty's Tommy Jessop among the cast.

The show was announced last October and will stream on Apple TV+.

Announcing the show, Apple said: "Apple today announced that it has partnered with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television, and Tom Hanks & Gary Goetzman's Playtone on Masters of the Air, a new international limited drama series that marks the first series greenlit with Apple serving as the studio.

"Masters of the Air will stream exclusively on Apple TV+, a new home for the world's most creative storytellers, and is the second project for Apple to hail from Spielberg's Amblin Television in addition to Amazing Stories.

"The series will join Apple's growing offering of sweeping international drama series, including Pachinko and Shantaram."

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When we'll get to watch it remains to be seen, as there is no release date yet - and even release dates that do exist can't be trusted these days, given the coronavirus pandemic's knack for causing delays.

The show will do well though to match the heights of Band of Brothers, which scooped numerous Emmys and a Golden Globe award.

Of course, Spielberg and Hanks' fruitful partnership goes back even further, and they previously took on the war genre with 1998's epic film Saving Private Ryan - for which Spielberg won a Best Director Oscar.

Topics: War, TV and Film

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey