Firstly: No, this is not a sequel or remake of Michael Jackson’s 1988 cinematic blunder. Secondly: The moon landing really happened. I’m more than happy to entertain a debate regarding my negative opinion of Wacko Jacko’s movie-musical mish-mash, but I’ve wasted enough on my life on arguing against crackpot theories about how the US government perpetrated this stupidly elaborate hoax 40 years ago just to stay ahead of the Soviets in the Space Race and to preserve NASA’s funding.
One such theory, even more crackpottier than most, was that the US government actually got none other than acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, he of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame, to direct said fake moon landing. It’s an especially far-fetched bit of fan-fiction that even suggests that Kubrick littered The Shining with clues of his clandestine involvement. And a bit of ridiculousness like that certainly deserves another, which brings us to Moonwalkers, an upcoming comedy that uses Kubrick’s alleged involvement in a fake moon landing as a springboard for a whole lot of hilarity.
In the film from first-time filmmaker Antoine Bardou-Jacquet, it’s 1969 and the US government are indeed worried that they’re going to get pipped at the lunar post by their big red rivals. Enter Ron Perlman’s CIA heavy who gets given the task by some shady government ne’er-dowels to get Kubrick to make their “moon landing” in case the real thing doesn’t pan out. Except Perlman’s thug accidentally mistakes Rupert Grint’s sleazy up-to-his-eyeballs-in-gambling-debt London band manager as Kubrick’s assistant, and he’s not about to say no to the giant briefcase of money being offered for this “movie”.
Check it out below.
Grint hasn’t really had that breakout role he needed in his post-Harry Potter career, with his most high-profile gig being the 2013 true-story musical drama CBGB. Unfortunately, not only was that movie panned by critics, it also made next to no money at the box office. Let’s hope he has better luck with fake moon landings than he does with real musicians.
Moonwalkers hits US theatres on 15 January 2016.
Last Updated: November 17, 2015
