Neil Armstrong Biopic 'First Man' Gets 2018 Release Date

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 is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and 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. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.

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