Neil Armstrong Biopic 'First Man' Gets 2018 Release Date

Ryan Gosling and Neil Armstrong
Actor Ryan Gosling (left) will portray astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, in Universal Studios' "First Man" to be directed by Damien Chazelle. (Image credit: Blair Raughley/Lionsgate / NASA via collectSPACE.com)

"First Man," the upcoming biographical film on the life of Neil Armstrong, has a release date: Oct. 12, 2018, according to Deadline.

Based on the book "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong" by James Hansen, "First Man" will chronicle the life and career of the first person to walk on the moon. Actor Ryan Gosling ("La La Land") will portray Armstrong in the Universal film, which will be directed by Damien Chazelle ("La La Land"). Hansen's book is being adapted for screen by Oscar winner Josh Singer ("Spotlight"). [Neil Armstrong Remembered in Photos]

Armstrong commanded NASA's historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, which touched down on the moon on July 20, 1969, among his other NASA work. Apollo 11 lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon with Armstrong while their crewmate Michael Collins orbited the moon aboard their command module. Five more Apollo moon landings would land astronauts on the moon. Armstrong died in 2012.

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He's a recipient of the 2022 Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting and the 2025 Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society. He is an Eagle Scout and Space Camp alum with journalism degrees from the USC and NYU. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.