Scarlett Johansson And Channing Tatum Star In Rom-Com, Fly Me To The Moon
There have been plenty of hotly anticipated movies out this year including Back to Black, Love Lies Bleeding and Challengers to name a few- and you can add Fly Me to the Moon, releasing this weekend, to that list.
Led by Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit) and Channing Tatum (The Lost City), it follows a blooming relationship between a marketing specialist and a worker at NASA during the hard-fought space race between the USA and the Soviet Union that gripped the world in the 1960s. Here’s what you need to know:
What is Fly Me to the Moon about?
A skilled marketing expert and a NASA employee tasked with handling America’s most ambitious space launch is perhaps not the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “romcom”, but it does set up an intriguing premise. In the mid-60s, the USA and the Soviets were both vying to outdo each other in space tech, with President Kennedy choosing to go to the moon “not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” That’s certainly a lot of pressure then on Cole Davis (Tatum), the launch director in charge of getting Apollo 11 to the moon. His job is complicated by the arrival of a new marketing team for NASA, who’ve been asked to improve their PR image after several setbacks. Among them is Kelly Jones (Johansson), who’s great at her job- as she puts it in the trailer: “I work here now to sell the moon.”
Unfortunately, things get a bit tricky when Kelly’s style clashes with Cole’s more scientific method. Meanwhile, they’ve got Moe Berkus (played by Woody Harrelson), one of NASA’s top dogs, to deal with, and something of an office romance developing between them. It even delves into the whole fake moon landing theory when the White House decides to ask Kelly to shoot a phoney version as a backup plan because the mission is too big to fail in front of the Soviets. Cole isn’t happy about the idea- and so focuses on making sure the real one goes smoothly. But will the pressure be too much for their jobs- and for each other’s relationship? “I know a lot more about the moon than I know about you”, Cole says at one point in the trailer- it’s safe to say it’ll be a rollercoaster in more ways than one.
Who else stars?
The cast also includes Jim Rash (Bros), Ray Romano (The Irishman), and Joe Chrest (Stranger Things), and is directed by Greg Berlanti (Love, Simon). It’s set to arrive in cinemas this weekend [12th July, 2024], while it’ll be available to stream on Apple TV+ later this year. You can watch the trailer below:
