Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Alfonso Cuarón, Stephen King all aboard Apple TV+

We all know that a streaming war is coming. Netflix has retained the services of Hollywood heavyweights like Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy and Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and Weiss. WarnerMedia snagged J.J. Abrams to work on HBO Max. Disney is making shows set in the Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universes. Amazon is readying uber-expensive series based on The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time, and on and on. Networks and streaming services are gonna bloody each other competing for our attention. It’s gonna be great.

One streaming service that’s been relatively quiet is Apple TV+, which launches on November, just around the corner. Sure, The Morning Show is packed with stars and See, Apple’s post-apocalyptic epic with Jason Momoa playing a blind warlord looks…interesting, but there’s been little to really make people sit up and adopt the new service on Day 1.

Lately, Apple’s strategy has come more into focus. While Netflix is courting newer talent, Apple is wooing some of Hollywood’s old guard. Just today, for example, Deadline reported that Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks — Hollywood royalty if there is any — will be teaming up again on a limited series adaptation of Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany (the show will probably just be called Masters of the Air, because that’s a lot of title). The series is a follow up to their other World War II dramas Band of Brothers and The Pacific, both of which were on HBO. And indeed, Spielberg and Hanks were originally developing Masters of the Air for that network, but apparently HBO has “left the historical WWII event miniseries space,” so Apple got the nod.

In any case, Deadline has heard that the show will last eight episodes and cost over $200 million to produce. It could be a prestigious feather in Apple’s cap.

Then there’s author Stephen King, who wrote all eight episodes of Apple TV+’s upcoming adaptation of his book Lisey’s Story, about a woman (Julianne Moore) who must face some harsh realities about her famous and successful husband following his death. Deadline reports that Clive Owen has signed on to play the husband. Finally, Variety reports that Alfonso Cuarón — the Oscar-winning director of movies like Roma, Gravity, Children of Men and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — has signed a deal to exclusively develop TV projects for the service.

So even though Apple TV+ has been letting buzz than some of its competitors, it’s obviously as hungry as anyone to win those streaming wars. Can it pull it off? With Apple+ launching on November 1 and Disney+ on November 12, the first shots are about to be fired.

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h/t The A.V. Club