Ryan Gosling's next project is to play moonwalker Neil Armstrong

Ryan Gosling’s been a busy man in recent years, but 2016 has only seen him star in one movie – Shane Black’s ‘The Nice Guys’ alongside Russell Crowe – but 2017 just got a whole lot busier.

With ‘La La Land’ hitting UK cinemas in early January, the ‘Drive’ actor has ‘Blade Runner 2049’ in post-production, with Terrence Malick’s ‘Weightless’ out in March. And it’s just been revealed that the 36-year-old will be starring as legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong in an adaptation of James Hansen’s biography titled ‘First Man: A Life of Neil A’.

According to the Independent, Gosling’s attached to play the iconic space explorer who was the first person to set foot on the moon. The film, which is titled ‘First Man’, will be set in the late 1960s and build up to the historical 1969 NASA moon landings.

With Gosling on board after a relatively quiet stint, fans will be glad to see the Canadian back on the big screen after a number of high profiled roles in ‘Gangster Squad’, ‘Only God Forgives’, and ‘The Big Short’ since since 2013.

Attached to direct is Damien Chazelle, the helmer behind last year’s ‘Whiplash’ and the upcoming, aforementioned ‘La La Land’. Both movies have been praised by critics and, for those who’ve been lucky enough to see both so far, have been well received. Clint Eastwood was originally penned to direct but turned the offer down, instead favouring ‘Sully’ which stars Tom Hanks.

‘Spotlight’ co-writer Josh Singer will pen the script, so there’s an abundance of talent working on the film already. The key thing here will be its recreation of one of the 20th century’s most prolific events and whether Gosling can pull off the role of Armstrong. While he’s been in a number of diverse roles over the years, audiences are still keen to see some genuine range and a performance that elevates his acting to the next level.

While some are tipping ‘La La Land’ for Oscar glory and praising his co-star Emma Stone, Gosling’s proven ability to entertain as an all-dancing, all-singing leading man should at least mean people are talking about a Best Actor nomination, but this biopic has the potential to really put himself on the map.

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