Trailer
Plot summary
NASA is preparing the Aries for the first crewed flight to Mars when the spacecraft's navigation software appears to fail. Fred Z. Randall, the eccentric programmer who wrote it, is brought to the space center, where he traces the problem to a mathematical error by the astronaut Gary Hackman. When Hackman is injured in an accident with a model lander, the agency needs a replacement rather than a delay, and Fred is put through astronaut training against Gordon A. Peacock. He breaks the records set by commander William "Wild Bill" Overbeck, and then, chosen for the crew, he backs out before boarding. Bud Nesbitt, a veteran of the Apollo 13 mission, hands him a coin stamped Bravery. Fred boards the Aries with Overbeck, Julie Ford, the mission's geologist, and Ulysses, a chimpanzee trained for the trip.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about RocketMan (1997)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The production spent nine weeks at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, shooting at the famous Rocket Park, the gargantuan Building 9 that houses the spacecraft mock-ups for the ongoing shuttle missions, and Building 32, home to the world's largest thermal vacuum chamber.
- The idea came from Craig Mazin, then an ad copywriter for Walt Disney Studios, and his writing partner Greg Erb, who were brainstorming when “What if Apollo 13 starred a goofball instead of Tom Hanks” struck them as the most marketable pitch.
- Harland Williams took the lead after turning down George of the Jungle and, dissatisfied with elements of the script, claimed to have rewritten it twice uncredited, adding the extended g-force scenes and the moment where Randall and Julie bond over stars in the sky.
- The film opened at #6 with $4,472,937, lost a third of its audience the following weekend, and had dropped out of the top ten by its fourth weekend, taking only $1,454,836 in eleventh place.
- To prepare for their astronaut roles, the film's three stars trained at the actual U.S. Space Camp at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, riding simulators alongside other camp activities.
