Cinematical

After a false start back in 2003, it looks like Neil Armstrong's life story -- and specifically an adaptation of First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong by NASA historian James R. Hansen -- might finally make its way to the screen. Originally, Clint Eastwood was slated to direct the film for Warner Bros., but now the rights have been sold to Universal, and Nicole Perlman (who also has a project about the 1986 Space Shuttle disaster in the works) is writing the screenplay. No word from Variety about whether Eastwood is still eyeing the project, but since he sold away the rights to the novel, I assume the answer is no.

I have a formidable bias against biopics, but I'd watch a Neil Armstrong one just for its take on one of the most entertaining controversies of the 20th century: whether he in fact dropped the indefinite article from "one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." The author of the book apparently had extraordinary access to the notoriously private Armstrong, which might mean that the resulting movie gets the details right -- though I tend to think that better films result when screenwriters are forced to improvise. Real lives, even very interesting ones, don't always make the best stories.

The real question, though, is who should play him. If people are charitable enough to overlook Hitman, I suggest Timothy Olyphant.