Director Greg Berlanti, renowned for his work on Love, Simon and You, knew from the first rehearsal that the dynamic duo of Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum would light up the screen in Fly Me to the Moon. Berlanti shares, “When you work with stars of this magnitude – who are stars for a reason – you know that they each have a filming element that most people don’t have. But until they are in a room together and I’m watching them act, do they have chemistry? I knew from our first rehearsal. They were so inventive and fun with each other. As young people say, it was giving Rock Hudson and Doris Day, it was giving Spencer Tracy and [Katharine] Hepburn. They each have their own brand of comedy and drama but they really fit well together. It was exciting to see what was going to happen every day.”
An epic blend of comedy, drama, and romance
Fly Me to the Moon is a stylish, multi-faceted comedy-drama with a hint of romance, set against the high-stakes backdrop of NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing. Scarlett Johansson stars as Kelly Jones, a marketing maven tasked by the White House to stage a fake moon landing as a backup plan. This mission doesn’t sit well with launch director Cole Davis, played by Channing Tatum.
Johansson, who also serves as one of the film’s producers, explains the complex relationship between their characters. “Though there may be a little contempt between Kelly and Cole at times, you still see that they have a connection, and sparks fly.”
Blending tones for a rich cinematic experience
Berlanti’s film recalls the sharp banter of classic Hollywood couples like Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy while delivering a poignant message about the importance of truth. Set on the grand scale of the Apollo missions, it also tells the intimate story of two people coming together. “The tether is always the performance – to have actors who can be silly in one moment and serious the next,” Berlanti says. “Tone is the number one question I’ve got in my career. I love to blend tones because I think we live lives of blended tones – it makes the sad stuff more sad, the serious stuff more serious, and the funny stuff funnier, because it adds an element of surprise; you don’t know what you’re going to get from moment to moment. It’s testament to the actors being able to do that.”
A cosmic love story
The film’s narrative cleverly intertwines Kelly and Cole’s mission to get to the moon with their personal journey of coming together. “Next to going to the moon, love may be the most ambitious thing a person can take on,” Berlanti reflects. Both aspirations – reaching the moon and allowing oneself to fall in love – require a leap into the unknown. “The moon is mystical and magical,” he says. “For thousands of years, it was the brightest light in the evening, when all the magical romantic things were happening. That’s so ingrained in us. What it has in common with the romance and the aspirations of the world at that time is the ambition – the giving yourself over to something great.”
Will they make it or fake it? Find out when Fly Me to the Moon, also starring Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano, and Jim Rash, opens in cinemas on July 10. Distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, the local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. #FlyMeToTheMoon @columbiapicph
Photo & Video Credit: “Columbia Pictures”
