Netflix apparently had a surprise up its sleeve to celebrate the anniversary of the Apollo mission to the Moon in 1969—a new live-action/animated hybrid film from writer-director Richard Linklater.
According to Deadline, Netflix is set to distribute “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure,” written and directed by Linklater. The film, as the title suggests, is set in the era of the 1969 Apollo mission and is heavily influenced by the filmmaker’s experience living in Houston, Texas during that time. ‘Apollo’ is told from two perspectives, including one of an astronaut on the verge of the massive accomplishment and a child that is entranced by the events as he listens on the radio and watches on TV.
As with most Linklater films, particularly those with animation, the cast for ‘Apollo’ is pretty incredible, including Jack Black, Zachary Levi, Glen Powell, Josh Wiggins, Milo Coy, Lee Eddy, Bill Wise, Natalie L’Amoreaux, Jessica Brynn Cohen, Sam Chipman, and Danielle Guilbot.
“It struck me years ago that this was my film to make, from both a chronological and proximity level – I was there, going into 3rd grade,” said Linklater. “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.”
The film wrapped up live-action filming in March and is now in the middle of the animation process, which will be a mixture of hand-drawn and computer-generated. ‘Apollo’ is far from the only animated feature that Linklater has directed over his career. Most famously, the filmmaker previously wrote and directed films “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly,” which have both gone on to have strong cult followings.
It’s unclear when “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure” will arrive on Netflix, but we’ll definitely be excited to give it a shot when it does.
