Ryan Gosling (Drive) may be stepping into famed astronaut Neil Armstrong’s suit for the Universal Pictures film First Man, according to Deadline. Whiplash director Damien Chazelle is currently on board to helm the film that is still being penned by Spotlight screenwriter Josh Singer.
The story would follow James Hansen’s biography First Man: A Life of Neil A. Armstrong. Its development comes at a fitting time as the 50th Anniversary of Armstrong’s 1969 Apollo 11 mission will be approaching within the next few years.
If this casting goes through, it will mark a re-team between Chazelle and Gosling as the two are currently working together on the contemporary musical La La Land along with Gosling’s frequent co-star Emma Stone (Gangster Squad, Crazy, Stupid, Love). Chazelle’s Whiplash star Miles Teller was originally confirmed to play the lead in the musical, but was replaced by Gosling before production began. We should therefore not expect Gosling to be guarantee to play Armstrong, especially seeing as the project has already faced several development roadblocks leading up to this point. First Man had already been receiving a treatment at Warner Bros. with Clint Eastwood directing and producing, but has since been turned over to Universal.
Coming up in December, Gosling will be seen starring in the economy drama The Big Short alongside Steve Carell, Brad Pitt, and Christian Bale. Next year, he will star in an Untitled Terrence Malick project and The Nice Guys, and will begin working on a Blade Runner remake.
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