‘Moonfall’ Wonders If Our Space Program Is Prepared to Save the Planet

After his success with the World War II movie “Midway” in 2019, legendary action movie director Roland Emmerich (“Independence Day”) returns to science fiction with “Moonfall,” set for release in theaters on Feb. 22, 2022.

It looks like NASA and not the Space Force will be running point on this planet-threatening disaster. Former astronaut and current NASA official Jo Fowler (Halle Berry, “John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum”) has realized that the moon is falling out of orbit and will crash into Earth.

No one believes her except astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson, “Midway”) and conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley, “Game of Thrones”). Check out the first trailer below.

How do you save the world when no one believes that it’s coming to an end? Will the Space Force rise to the occasion or prove useless in a crisis? In the end, our heroes launch their own mission into space in a last-ditch effort to stop the destruction.

Emmerich has long been known as a director who aims to push the limits of movie technology. The “Midway” battle scenes were filmed almost entirely on a soundstage in Canada, and the crew used bleeding-edge computer technology to make it appear like the World War II battles were taking place on open sea in the Pacific.

Related: Director Roland Emmerich Shares the Secrets Behind His WWII Epic 'Midway'

This first look suggests that “Midway” was in some ways a warmup for “Moonfall,” at least on the technology front. Selling CGI to an audience for worlds that don’t yet exist is obviously easier than recreating an event from history, and the trailer makes it seem like the director and his effects crew let their imaginations run wild.

Is the moon a legitimate threat to life on Earth? Scientists likely would say no, but there are certainly earthlings who have done the research for themselves and now see doom just over the horizon. We’ll find out how at least one director imagines our collective fate when “Moonfall” reaches theaters next year.

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