The official trailer has arrived for Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, the new animated film from Richard Linklater heading to Netflix in April. Animated in the style of A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life, earlier films by Linklater, the new movie definitely has that Linklater feel to it. You can get an idea of what the movie will be like by watching the official trailer below.
The official synopsis for Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood reads:
"The film tells the story of the first moon landing in the summer of 1969 from two interwoven perspectives – the astronaut and mission control view of the triumphant moment, and through the eyes of a kid growing up in Houston, Texas who has intergalactic dreams of his own. Taking inspiration from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Richard Linklater’s own life, Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood is a snapshot of American life in the 1960s that is part coming of age, part societal commentary, and part out-of-this-world adventure."
Richard Linklater wrote and directed Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood. He also produced alongside Mike Blizzard, Tommy Pallotta, Femke Wolting, and Bruno Felix. John Sloss executive produced. The movie stars Milo Coy, Lee Eddy, Bill Wise, Natalie L'Amoreaux, Josh Wiggins, Sam Chipman, Jessica Brynn Cohen, Danielle Guilbot with Zachary Levi and Glen Powell, and Jack Black.
In a statement on the new film, Linklater said:
"After the years of work on Apollo 10 ½, I think everyone involved is excited to take folks on these intermingled journeys - one a young astronaut's trip to the moon, and another that runs hand-in-hand with him and his family in the suburbs near NASA. I wanted it to be many things at once: a re-creation, a fantasy, and a memoir of ephemera, and making a large portion of the film during these dark and unsettling last two years only sharpened our focus as to what were primarily trying to share in this story, namely the hope, optimism, communal spirit, and creativity of that time."
Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood Spent Years in Development
This project has been in the works for years. Back in 2020, Richard Linklater spoke about the film in an interview with Empire, though he couldn't divulge too much information at the time. He did talk about how personal the story was to him, first getting the idea many years ago and finally moving forward with production, all leading up to the April release.
"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," Linklater said at the time. "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."
Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood will be released globally on Netflix on April 1, 2022.