Ryan Gosling takes to the Moon in trailer for Damien Chazelle’s First Man

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Audiences quickly fell in love with Damien Chazelle's LA LA LAND, but the director's next collaboration with Ryan Gosling strikes quite a different tone. Telling the riveting tale of NASA's mission to land a man on the Moon, FIRST MAN finds Gosling starring as astronaut Neil Armstrong and the film will explore the sacrifices and the cost—on Armstrong and on the nation—of one of the most dangerous missions in history. The first trailer for the film premiered on Jimmy Kimmel Live! tonight, which you can check out above!

"What fascinated me about Neil Armstrong is that he is kind of a mystery," Chazelle recently told People. "For someone that accomplished something that is among one of the most famous things that anyone has ever accomplished, the human himself is a little bit of an enigma. And it’s funny, the first time I ever met Ryan was to pitch him this role, before we did La La Land together, so it was a dream to have him in this role." The actor was also Damien Chazelle's first choice for the role because he makes for a believable introspective hero. "I was fascinated by the psychology of what can drive someone to do what Neil Armstrong did, to physically go further than any human being in history pretty much, in terms of the journey he goes on," Chazelle added. "I think Ryan is able to capture that kind of drive, that kind of methodical focus, that kind of quiet heroism."

The official synopsis for FIRST MAN:

On the heels of their six-time Academy Award®-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar®-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures’ First Man, the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969.  A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost—on Armstrong and on the nation—of one of the most dangerous missions in history.

FIRST MAN will hit theaters on October 12, 2018.