Damien Chazelle's biopic about the first man on the moon - aptly named First Man - is getting ready for (groan) liftoff.
According to THR, Corey Stoll of Netflix's House of Cards and more recently, Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain, will be playing Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin to Ryan Gosling's Neil Armstrong. Based on the book by James R. Hansen, the film is described as a "a visceral, first-person account of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on the years 1961-1969 and Armstrong, the astronaut who became the first man to set foot on the moon."
Stoll will also be joined by Friday Night Lights' Kyle Chandler, who will play Deke Slayton, the first Chief of the Astronaut Office of NASA. Yes, that's a real name and a real title.
It's early days yet and there's no word on when production will start, however Universal have scheduled the film's release at a very Oscar-friendly time - October 12th, 2018.
This will be the first film that La La Land director Damien Chazelle has made where he hasn't had a hand in the screenplay - that honour goes to Spotlight writer Josh Singer, who won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with his co-writer, director Tom McCarthy.
So, thoughts? Corey Stoll is an excellent and highly underrated actor. You only need to look at the first season of House of Cards to get that. Even in more blander, mainstream roles, he's been top-notch. Ant-Man, for example, was one of the few Marvel films that actually had a memorable villain.
Don't be surprised in the slightest if this cleans up at the Oscars in two years time.
Via THR
