Tom Hanks Sets ‘Masters of the Air’ Follow-up for Apple TV

Following the overwhelming success of Apple TV‘s Masters of the Air, Tom Hanks and company have officially set their next project for the streamer, and it’s yet another adaptation. Premiering earlier this year, Masters of the Air was based on the novel of the same name by Donald L. Miller, and was met with widespread critical acclaim for its portrayal of the 100th Bomb Group during World War II.

Per Deadline, Hanks and Gary Goetzman will look to capture some of that same magic when they adapt the upcoming Elliot Ackerman novel Sheepdogs, which is slated for publication in 2025 by Alfred K. Knopf/Penguin Random House. Apple Studios shelled out nearly $1 million dollars for the rights to the novel, which Hanks and Goetzman will adapt through their Playtone banner, which also helped bring Masters of the Air to life. There’s no word yet on if Hanks will appear in the production à la 2020’s Greyhound, which was also distributed by Apple TV.

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Sheepdogs focuses on the characters of Skwerl and Cheese, two elite paramilitary soldiers down on their luck who accept a mission to repossess a private jet stranded on a remote African airfield. Of course, nothing is as it seems, and when the women in their lives get involved—one a pregnant wife and one a dominatrix—the stakes skyrocket even higher. It sounds pretty good to us because, as much as we like WWII dramas, this one is set against a modern backdrop, and is filled with colorful characters, including an eccentric bomb technician, a lapsed Amish adventurer, and a used car dealer elected to Congress. How perfect is that?

Tom Hanks Hasn’t Had Much Luck This Year

While Masters of the Air was obviously a success for Apple TV, when it comes to Hanks’ other projects that he actually appeared in, he hasn’t had a lot of luck. Freaky Tales, a Sundance favorite back in January in which he had a brief cameo as a video store employee, has thus far failed to land a firm distributor. Lionsgate has the distribution rights thanks to their acquisition of Entertainment One, but so far as we know, there are no plans yet for a wide release and the movie could still be acquired by someone else. It’s kind of baffling to think about, really, especially when you consider Pedro Pascal portrays the lead, and we all know how hot he is right now.

On the flip side of that, there’s also Here, which did have a wide release and starred Hanks alongside Robin Wright. The ambitious, nonlinear drama flopped hard at the box office, earning just $13.4 million against a budget upwards of $50 million. Ouch. Critics and audiences panned the Robert Zemeckis film for being out of touch with modern audiences, and its digital de-aging technology wasn’t taken very kindly to.

Couple those with Hanks’ profanity-filled outburst on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, and it’s clear that the pressure seems to be getting to him a little. Will he manage to redeem himself in Wes Anderson’s upcoming espionage comedy-drama thriller The Phoenician Scheme? Time will tell, but for now, Hanks should probably stay behind the scenes, as it clearly doesn’t appear as if he has the same drawing power that he used to.

Release Date

January 26, 2024

Seasons

1

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