When reflecting on the remarkable career of her son Neil, Viola Armstrong said that “as if from the very moment he was born—farther back still—that our son was somehow destined for the Apollo 11 mission.”
That mission made history by shipping Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon back in 1969, when the former famously took one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind in order to become the first human being to set foot on our closest galactic neighbor. It’s a historic feat you’ve no doubt heard about ten times before, but with First Man, La La Land duo Ryan Gosling and Damien Chazelle are joining forces once more to shed new light on the life and career of Neil Armstrong not only leading up to the Apollo 11 mission, but also the immediate aftermath, when Armstrong returned to Earth alongside Aldrin as bona fide heroes.
James Hansen’s biography First Man: A Life Of Neil A. Armstrong will be the jumping-off point, creatively speaking, and we now have word that Universal has locked down a release date: October 12th, 2018. An Oscar-friendly release window means filming is expected to commence in the coming months, so we’ll be keeping you right up-to-date as the studio begins its casting spree. Spotlight scribe Josh Singer will adapt Hansen’s acclaimed biography for the big screen, ensuring that First Man has top-tier talent right across the board.
It’s official: First Man blasts off on October 12th, 2018. A late 2018 release date would place Chazelle’s biopic in next year’s Oscar race, though the director likely doesn’t want to spend too much time dwelling on that golden statuette following 2017’s by-now infamous gaffe.
