Hidden Figures Information

Hidden Figures is an upcoming 2017 American biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi from a screenplay co-written with Allison Schroeder, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly. The film stars Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson, the African American physicist, space scientist, and mathematician who calculated flight trajectories for Project Mercury and the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the Moon. The film also features Octavia Spencer, Janelle Mone, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, and Jim Parsons.

Principal photography began in early March 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. The film will be released on January 13, 2017, by Fox 2000 Pictures.

Plot

The film recounts the story of the African-American mathematician Katherine Johnson and her two colleagues, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson (engineer), who helped NASA catch up in the Space Race. Using their calculations, John Glenn became the first American astronaut to make a complete orbit of the Earth.

Cast

• Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson, a mathematics genius
• Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan
• Janelle Mone as Mary Jackson
• Kevin Costner as Al Harrison, the head of the space program
• Kirsten Dunst as Vivian Jackson
• Jim Parsons as Paul Stafford
• Glen Powell as John Glenn
• Mahershala Ali as Jim Johnson
• Karan Kendrick as Joylette Coleman
• Rhoda Griffis as White Librarian
• Maria Howell as Ms. Summer
• Aldis Hodge as Levi Jackson
• Gary Weeks as Reporter of Press Conference

Production

On July 9, 2015, it was announced that producer Donna Gigliotti acquired Margot Lee Shetterly's non-fiction book Hidden Figures about a group of black female mathematicians who helped NASA win the Space Race by providing mathematical computations for the launch of John Glenn and his fellow astronauts into space. Allison Schroeder wrote the script, which was developed by Gigliotti through Levantine Films, which would also produce the film along with Peter Chernin's Chernin Entertainment. Fox 2000 Pictures acquired the film rights, while Theodore Melfi signed on to direct it. Since the film's development was announced, various actresses were revolving to play the black female roles, including Oprah Winfrey, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Taraji P. Henson.

On February 10, 2016, Fox hired Henson to play the lead role of mathematician Katherine Johnson, while producers on the film would be Chernin and Jenno Topping, along with Gigliotti and Melfi. On February 17, Spencer came on board to play Dorothy Vaughan, one of the three lead mathematicians. On March 1, 2016, Kevin Costner was cast in the film to play the head of the space program, and following him, singer Janelle Mone signed on to play the third lead mathematician, Mary Jackson. Later the same month, Kirsten Dunst, Glen Powell, and Mahershala Ali were cast in the film, where Powell would play astronaut John Glenn, and Ali as Johnson's love interest with the other two for unspecified roles. On April 1, 2016, Jim Parsons was cast in the film to play the head engineer at the Space Task Group at NASA, Paul Stafford. In April 2016, Pharrell Williams came on board as a producer on the film, and he would also write original songs and would handle music department and soundtrack of the film.

Principal photography on the film began in early March 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. Filming also took place at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.

Release

Hidden Figures is scheduled to be released on January 13, 2017, by Fox 2000 Pictures.