Universal Pictures has released the first poster forFirst Man, featuring Ryan Gosling as iconic astronautNeil Armstrong, with the first trailer slated to be released tonight, during ABC’sJimmy Kimmel Live. This could be one of the early Oscar contenders for 2018, reuniting Gosling with writer-director Damien Chazelle, after their work together on 2016 Best Picture nomineeLa La Land. While Gosling certainly won’t be dancing through the streets of L.A. in this drama, it could put him at the forefront of the Oscar race once again.
On the heels of their six-time Academy Award-winning smash,La La Land, Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle and starRyan Goslingreteam for Universal Pictures’First Man, the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969. A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost, on Armstrong and on the nation, of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
In April 1961, the Russians were able to send the first man into space, Yuri Gargarin, who was launched into a single orbit around the Earth in a craft known as Vostok 1. Just a month later in May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to be launched into space on a craft known as Freedom 7, but he did not achieve a single orbit like Gargarin did. Later that month, President John F. Kennedy revealed in a special message to Congress that his goal was to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade, which they achieved on August 15, 2025, when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.
Ryan Gosling leads a cast that Claire Foy as Neil’s wife, Janet Armstrong, Pablo Schreiber as astronaut Jim Lovell, Kyle Chandler as Deke Slayton, NASA’s Director of Flight Crew Operations, and Ethan Embry as NASA astronaut Pete Conrad, who became the third man to walk on the moon in the Apollo 12 mission. The cast also includes Jason Clarke, Shea Whigham and Cory Michael Smith as Edward Higgins Wright, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee, who were part of the ill-fated Apollo I mission, along with Corey Stoll as Buzz Aldrin and Lukas Haas as Mike Collins, who were with Armstrong on the historic Apollo 11 mission.
Universal Pictures has set an October 12 release date forFirst Man, putting it up against Sony’sGoosebumps: Haunted Halloween. It is also situated between two cramped weekends. October 5 brings 20th Century Fox’sBad Times at the El Royale, Sony’sVenom, Warner Bros.‘A Star Is Bornand PureFlix’sUnbroken: Path to Redemption, while, on October 19, five more movies hit theaters, Blumhouse’sHalloween, 20th Century Fox’sThe Hate U Give, Warner Bros.Mowgli, Aviron’sSerenityand Annapurna’sWhere’d You Go, Bernadette?, setting up quite the jam-packed month. Take a look at this new poster, courtesy ofFirst Man Movie Twitter, and check back tonight for the first trailer.
