Apollo 10 1/2: Jack Black & Zachary Levi to Star in Netflix’s New Animated Movie

July 16, 2020

Apollo 10 1/2: Jack Black & Zachary Levi to star in Netflix’s new animated movie

It has already been 14 years since Richard Linklater’s second animated film A Scanner Darkly had its theatrical release in 2006, and now it looks like the filmmaker has already set up his newest and third animated feature as he officially partners with Netflix for the coming-of-age sci-fi film titled Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure. The project is being described as an innovative hybrid of hand-drawn and computer-animated imagery.

In addition, the streaming service has also announced the full cast which will be led by Golden Globe nominee Jack Black (School of Rock, Jumanji: The Next Level) and Shazam! star Zachary Levi.

Set against the backdrop of the 1969 Apollo mission to the moon, which celebrates its 51st anniversary today, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure is inspired by Linklater’s childhood in Houston, TX. It will tell the story of the first moon landing in the summer of 1969 from two interwoven perspectives. It both captures the astronaut and mission control view of the triumphant moment, and the lesser-seen bottom-up perspective of what it was like from an excited kid’s perspective, living near NASA but mostly watching it on TV like hundreds of millions of others. It’s ultimately both an exacting re-creation of this special moment in history and a kid’s fantasy about being plucked from his average life in suburbia to secretly train for a covert mission to the moon.

“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. 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,” Linklater said in a statement.

Joining Black and Levi are Glen Powell (Set It Up) and Josh Wiggins (Lost in the Sun) along with Milo Coy, Lee Eddy, Bill Wise, Natalie L’Amoreaux, Jessica Brynn Cohen, Sam Chipman, and Danielle Guilbot. This film will mark Black’s latest collaboration with Linklater, who previously worked together on the iconic musical comedy School of Rock and the 2011 black comedy Bernie.

Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure is written and directed by Richard Linklater. It is a co-production by Linklater’s Detour FilmProductions and Submarine with Tommy Pallotta, Mike Blizzard, Femke Wolting and Bruno Felix set as producers.

Production on the live-action shoot had already wrapped last March and will be completed at Minnow Mountain in Austin and Submarine in the Netherlands.

(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for CinemaCon & Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)