Richard Linklater is going where none of his films have gone before: a Netflix release. Also, space! Linklater’s latest film Apollo 10 1/2 tells the story of a young boy who is recruited to go on a top-secret space mission in 1960s Texas, since he is the only one small enough to do it.
The movie stars Glen Powell, Zachary Levi and Jack Black and was inspired by Linklater’s own childhood. The film will be released on Netflix on April 1st after premiering at SXSW this week. When asked about the film’s inspiration, Linklater said:
“Eighteen years ago, I was pulling out memories of 2nd grade to help me construct the narrative of Boyhood’s second year. Even though that movie is a celebration of the non-extraordinary, it became clear to me I had lived through and close to something truly extraordinary – the grandest and most enduring engineering feat in human history I think it took decades for us to fully process that the Apollo program and walking on the moon was the apex because we’d all believed it was just a great beginning.”
The director has combined two key elements of two of his greatest movies: childhood wonder from Boyhood and rotoscope animation from the very underrated A Scanner Darkly in order to create the dream-like look of Apollo 10 1/2. Also another key Linklater element: Jack Black. Check out the trailer above.