Oscar-winning Rain Man, Good Morning, Vietnam and Diner director Levinson has signed on to direct and Costner is on board to executive produce the limited series One Giant Leap on the 1969 Moon Landing. The project will be written by 24 vet Stephen Kronish, who will serve as showrunner. One Giant Leap "will look at one of the most historic events in U.S. history from a slightly different angle, stressing the personality conflicts within the flight team that almost doomed the mission before it left the launch pad – and how a NASA psychiatrist’s predictions of disaster for astronaut Buzz Aldrin were ignored by her superiors," according to Deadline. "The series will also look at the Soviet Union’s attempt to destroy Apollo 11 on its way to the moon, and the Cold War victory of America over its Russian enemy as well as celebrate the singular moment of accomplishment that drew together half a billion people around the world. The team are now set to approach actors to play the four leads of astronauts Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Mike Collins, and NASA psychiatrist Rachel Katherine Ludwig before taking it out to market." The story of the Moon Landing was told, in part, in HBO's Emmy-winning 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.
TOPICS: Barry Levinson, One Giant Leap, Buzz Aldrin, Kevin Costner, Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, Rachel Katherine Ludwig, Stephen Kronish, In Development, NASA