A film co-written and narrated by iconic Hollywood actor Tom Hanks is set to see its U.S. premier early next year with the hope of capturing audiences in the story of humanity's journey to the moon.
"The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks" is Hanks' film about the history of the Apollo space program and the future of lunar exploration by the Artemis program. That film saw its initial debut more than a year ago in London at Lightroom, near King's Cross station.
"The writing from Hanks and [Christopher] Riley is authoritative and told with a lightness of touch; frequently it is beautifully poetic," The London Standard wrote last year in December. "It examines the scientific endeavor of space travel, as well as humanity's need to explore."
It will see its American debut in February at Space Center Houston in Texas as it tells the story of the historic space launches from more than 50 years ago to the ongoing effort to returning astronauts to the lunar surface.
It will be screened daily in Space Center Houston's newly renovated Space Center Theater, according to information posted recently. However, showtimes, tickets or other details have not yet been revealed.
Hanks, 68, co-wrote "Moonwalkers" with Christopher Riley, best known for work on other space-theme documentaries for other media outlets like the BBC, Netflix and PBS.
"I'm delighted to be bringing this project home to the place where the moonwalkers lived and worked throughout the Apollo program and where today's Artemis crews are preparing to follow in their footsteps," Hanks wrote Wednesday in a statement.
The 50-minute show will be projected and viewed on multiple walls. The original NASA mission audio will play alongside Hanks' narration with an original score recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios.
"The Moonwalkers" uses film and other archived footage of astronauts' famed space-traveling predecessors who have are the only human beings to have set foot on the moon.