HBO Max's Sci-Fi Rom-Com 'Moonshot' Adds Zach Braff As An Elon Musk-Type
Zach Braff is quite simply doing it all these days. The popular Scrubs actor pivoted to the director's chair a few years back with the family comedy Going in Style and even helmed an episode of the hit show Ted Lasso (for which he recently received an Emmy nomination). Now, he's set to get right back on the other side of the camera again for the upcoming HBO Max film, Moonshot.The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on the actor joining the project that has been described as "a rom-com with a sci-fi twist." It will be directed by Chris Winterbauer in his most high-profile production yet after first arriving on the scene with his debut feature Wyrm. From a script written by Max Taxe, the futurized plot follows two college students sneaking on board a shuttle bound for human settlements on a colonized Mars. Why? For love, of course!
So, Who is Braff Playing?
Braff's role appears to be the slightly more successful version of someone like Elon Musk, an "entrepreneur and a visionary" mainly responsible for the colonization efforts. We're left to assume that his series of test flights, at the very least, experienced marginally fewer setbacks of the, uh, explosive nature than his ostensible real-life counterpart.
In terms of co-stars, Lana Condor was first tabbed to star in Moonshot over a year ago, marking her first major follow-up to the successful Netflix trilogy To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Braff will be the biggest addition to the cast following the previously-announced Condor, Cole Sprouse, Mason Gooding, Emily Rudd, and Lukas Gage.
Notably, the currently-filming production is being produced by Greg Berlanti, best known for his CW DC superhero shows, Riverdale, and also directing Love, Simon. His involvement with Moonshot is also a reunion of sorts after writing and directing The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy back in 2000, Berlanti's debut film that happened to feature a fresh-faced Zach Braff.
Braff, of course, is looking at an increasingly busy schedule these days. He recently finished filming his role for Disney+'s Cheaper by the Dozen remake and will next appear alongside Robert DeNiro in The Comeback Trail. The Hollywood Reporter also reports that Braff is both writing and directing the currently in-development A Good Person, starring Morgan Freeman and Florence Pugh.
Moonshot is currently in production with an as-of-yet unknown release date.