Cannes Biggie: Roland Emmerich, AGC Studios & CAA Media Finance Launch $150M Sci-Fi ‘Moonfall’

Roland Emmerich was at the helm of one of the biggest movies at last year’s Cannes market in the shape of WWII action pic Midway, which is due for release later this year. Make that back to back Croisette biggies for the Independence Day director who will be on the Riviera to drum up support for big canvas feature Moonfall.

The $150M-budgeted action-sci-fi is about an unlikely band of misfits who must save mankind when the moon falls out of orbit and hurtles toward earth. Previously set up at Universal, the project is now available in the independent market space with AGC Studios and CAA Media Finance on board for world sales.

Midway was one of the biggest-budget independent films ever assembled. This would be bigger. Production is slated for Q1, 2020.

Emmerich wrote the script with his 2012 collaborator Harald Kloser and Spenser Cohen. Emmerich will direct the film with Centropolis Entertainment producing. Cast has yet to be attached.

Here’s the official synopsis from the production: ‘The Moon. It controls our nights, our days, the seasons, and our ocean tides. And since the beginning of humankind, its phases stood as a symbol of enlightenment, inner knowledge – and our own immortality. Until now. Suddenly and without warning a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact, and against all odds, a ragtag team launches an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love and risking everything to land on the lunar surface, unlock its secrets, and save our planet from annihilation. But first they must battle an unknown and unfathomable power that will challenge everything we know about the moon, the universe, and ourselves.’