Apple TV+ has agreed a multi-year overall deal with Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s production company Playtone to exclusively develop, produce and distribute all forms of television globally encompassing series, limited series, documentaries and unscripted projects.

Apple’s partnership with Playtone builds on its existing film and series relationship which includes the limited drama series Masters of the Air, from Apple Studios, Playtone and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television. The series follows the true, personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep. Additionally, Apple Original Films’ Academy Award-nominated blockbuster Greyhound, produced by Goetzman and written by and starring Hanks, is available to stream on Apple TV+.

Hanks is regarded genuince Hollywood royalty, having starred in such celebrated movies as Forrest Gump, Castaway, The Green Mile, Toy Story, The Post, Cloud Atlas, Sleepless in Seattle, Big, Saving Private Ryan, Splash, Apollo 13 and many more – so the deal is a huge coup for the Apple streaming service.

Playtone’s critically praised television productions have earned six Emmy Awards for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, four Golden Globe Awards for Best Mini Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, and five Peabody Awards. Goetzman and Hanks are also recipients of the PGA’s Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television.

Future Playtone projects will join the expanding lineup of series debuting globally on Apple TV+ including the recently released Pachinko, the Korean, Japanese and English-language drama based on the acclaimed novel by the same name; Slow Horses, the new espionage drama adapted from CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning Mick Herron’s novels and starring Academy Award winner Gary Oldman; Shining Girls, a new metaphysical thriller starring and executive produced by Emmy Award winner Elisabeth Moss and based on Lauren Beukes’ bestselling novel; and Now and Then, the new eight-episode bilingual and multi-layered thriller; and more.