Undoubtedly, Richard Linklater is one of our most underrated filmmakers. For the past 30 years, he’s been quietly making masterpiece after masterpiece, and while only a few of those venture into sci-fi (mainly Waking Life andA Scanner Darkly), his next film sounds like it’s doing that and so much more.
Linklater’s next film is called Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure and it’s the story of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, inspired by his own memories, and told from three unique perspectives: the astronauts in space, Mission Control at NASA, and through the eyes of a kid who lives near NASA and watches history unfold on TV. “It’s both an exacting re-creation of this special moment in history and a kid’s fantasy about being plucked from his average life in suburbia to secretly train for a covert mission to the moon,” according to a press release.
Netflix will release the film, which combines live-action scenes and hand-drawn animation, as well as computer-generated effects. The cast includes Jack Black, Zachary Levi, Glen Powell, Josh Wiggins, Lee Eddy, Bill Wise, Natalie L’Amoreaux, Jessica Brynn Cohen, Sam Chipman, and Danielle Guilbot.
https://gizmodo.com/breathtaking-simulation-recreates-neil-armstrong-s-view-1836447240
“It struck me years ago that this was my film to make, from both a chronological and proximity level—I was there, going into third grade,” Linklater said. “Our unique animation style allows both the conjuring of a world long gone, and the flowing, playful expression of memory and imagination. It’s been a fun, creative journey to incorporate things like 3D graphics into a live-action shoot to help bring this story to life.”
All of which is to say: “Holy crap this sounds amazing, can we see this movie right now, please?” Well, it sounds like it’s going to be a while. Linklater apparently finished live-action production right before the covid-19 quarantine began in March and the animation work is happening now. That makes it sound like a 2021 or 2022 release is most likely.
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