Ever wonder what it might be like if history had unfolded differently? In 2009 former White House speechwriter William Safire passed away, leaving behind documents and speeches, some of which had never been read. Among his papers was a speech entitled In Event of Moon Disaster, which was to be read by Richard Nixon if the Apollo 11 mission to the moon went wrong. As history has it the mission was a success, but the speech served as the inspiration for a new film.

In the Event of a Moon Disaster will be a revisionist tale of the Apollo 11 lunar landing in which the mission takes a tragic turn. Tate Taylor (The Help, Get On Up) has signed on to direct the film from a script by Mike Jones. The project will have big shoes to fill as far as space disaster movies are concerned. 1995’s Apollo 13 starred Tom Hanks and received nine Academy Award nominations, while more recently Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity was met with widespread critical and commercial success, winning seven Academy Awards and grossing over $716 million worldwide. Both Apollo 13 and Gravity told tales of perseverance and survival despite overwhelming odds. However, given the inspiration for Moon Disaster it seems doubtful there will be surviving members of the crew.   

Taylor’s next film, the James Brown biopic Get on Up, will hit theaters August 1st.