The only surprising thing about an upcoming biopic about Neil Armstrong is that no one did it sooner. Variety reports that the nonfiction book by James R. Hansen, titled First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, has been optioned by Universal—you know, the studio whose logo is a view of the Earth from space? Can’t wait to see the creative use of that image in the opening credits.
Turns out Armstrong isn’t exactly the great American hero we all grew up knowing about, which is part of what the movie will explore. He was called “The Ice Commander” because he was so driven to reach the moon, and as he became more invested in his work he grew very distant from his family. After the moon landing, on the other hand, he completely retreated from public life, reconnecting with his family and leading an intensely private life ever since.
Tom Hanks has been working on creating a monopoly on space movies lately, and I guarantee there are people out there trying to cast him as we speak. He probably won’t take the part though, which means this is a plum role for another actor. Given how little we know about this iconic figure, there’s probably a lot to explore here, which means the movie could be even more interesting and informative than Apollo 13. Given that the guy successfully walked on the moon it may not be as exciting, but hey, they can always delve into that conspiracy theory about whether or not he flubbed the “One small step for man” line.
