Though most of the box-office attention has been on future-set space stories like The Martian, Hollywood is also aiming to mine our fertile space history for a story or two — and the latest might have just found its star.

Deadline reports Ryan Gosling (Drive, The Ides of March) is being sought to star in Universal’s Neil Armstrong biopic, titled First Man. The script is currently being written by Josh Singer, and Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) has already signed on to direct. Gosling would certainly bring a leading man’s look to the role, and as anyone who has seen Drive can attest, the guy is more than capable of disappearing into a good character.

The film is based on James Hansen’s biography First Man: A Life of Neil A. Armstrong and will largely focus on the astronaut’s historical 1969 mission on Apollo 11. The mission celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2019, for those who like symmetry. The film has bounced around in development for a while now, and it previously had Clint Eastwood attached to direct, back when it was still set up at Warner Bros.

Space stories are a hot commodity these days, and it’d be fascinating to have Armstrong’s story brought to the big screen. Hey, if we’re looking for inspiration for the future — why not look to the past to reclaim some of that great space-race hope?

Zoom In

(Via Deadline)