“Fly Me to the Moon” is the kind of movie that’s not supposed to succeed in theaters anymore, at least according to franchise-obsessed studio executives.
The story is period and entirely original: In 1968, a government agent (Woody Harrelson) hires a marketing whiz (Scarlett Johansson) to convince the public—and Congress—that struggling NASA can pull off its planned Apollo 11 moon landing. Elegant and devious, she clashes with the rigid launch director (Channing Tatum) and secretly stages—as a backup, to be used only in an emergency—a fake landing filmed on a movie set. What’s the harm?
Hollywood marketers will tell you that ticket buyers shun films that blend genres. And “Fly Me to the Moon” is at once a drama, a comedy, a love story, a fiction and a true story. In the summer, especially, studios prefer to offer big-budget movies aimed at teens. “Fly Me to the Moon” is thoughtful adult entertainment, the kind that Mike Nichols (“Working Girl”) and James L. Brooks (“Broadcast News”) made in the 1980s.
So the question is: How did “Fly Me to the Moon” manage to get a wide theatrical release at the height of blockbuster season? The film opens Friday in 3,300 theaters in the United States and Canada.
Shouldn’t it go straight to streaming?
In many ways, the film’s unexpected path to multiplexes reflects how much of Hollywood operates on the whims of chance. “Fly Me to the Moon” started out as a streaming movie, period. Apple TV+ paid about $100 million for the project in March 2022, and the deal didn’t include a theatrical release.
But then Greg Berlanti got involved.
It was June 2022, and Mr. Berlanti, the wunderkind television producer, had just turned 50. The milestone prompted some soul-searching, compounded by the recent death of his mother. At the same time, the entertainment industry was in a state of flux—the era of streaming-driven “peak TV” was coming to an end—and Mr. Berlanti wasn’t quite sure where to focus his professional attention.
He knew he was tired of comic-book-based shows, having spent a decade working on hits like “Riverdale,” “Arrow,” “The Flash” and “Supergirl.” He’d also directed TV thrillers (“You”), family dramas (“Brothers & Sisters”) and torrents of teen angst (“Everwood,” “Dawson’s Creek”).
“I started getting lifetime achievement awards, which was great, but it also made me think about what I wanted to do with the second half of my career,” Berlanti said. “Am I done? I don’t want to be done.”
Then a movie script arrived in her inbox. It was from Ms. Johansson, who suddenly needed a director for “Fly Me to the Moon,” which she was also producing. The original director, Jason Bateman, had abruptly left the project (“creative differences”), and filming was set to begin in Atlanta in just four months. Ms. Johansson had met Mr. Berlanti a few years earlier while working on a new version of “Little Shop of Horrors,” the classic musical. (She was to play Audrey, with Mr. Berlanti directing; the pandemic derailed the project.)
“I needed someone who could deliver,” Johansson said. “Greg has such empathy. He’s very sensitive. He understands comedy. He’s a man. He’s effective. He’s a little bit naughty, but a little bit prudish. He was perfect for the subject matter — and, as it turned out, the timing was perfect for him.”
Still, there was a risk. Mr. Berlanti had previously directed only two studio films, both of them smaller. “Love, Simon,” a celebrated 2018 romantic comedy about a gay teenager, cost $17 million and grossed $66 million. “Life as We Know It,” a critically ill-received 2010 comedy, cost $38 million and grossed $106 million.
“I don’t direct a lot of movies,” Mr. Berlanti said. “It’s not really something I think about when I wake up in the morning — directing. But I found myself at a point in my career where I wanted to do something that would use all parts of me and challenge me in every way, not just one or two ways.”
He continued: “I also missed movies that mixed comedy and drama, that were original, that were smart, and that had great actors. Nobody does that anymore. I knew why: the box office prospects. But this movie was supposed to be a direct-to-streaming movie. I thought, ‘Oh, this is great. The stakes are much lower.’”
He accepted the job.
Mr. Berlanti showed “Fly Me to the Moon” to Apple executives last spring. A test screening was later held in Colorado. “The movie did really well with men and women, young and old, which was a surprise,” Mr. Berlanti said. (Apple declined to comment for this article.)
Perhaps the reaction was a fluke? Another audience test was conducted in California. “Same reaction, actually better,” Mr. Berlanti said. Another test was ordered in Texas. “Everywhere we went, people said this was the kind of movie they were missing in theaters — an original movie with big movie stars,” he said.
The film’s producers, led by Ms. Johansson, lobbied Apple to give “Fly Me to the Moon” a chance to be released in theaters. Apple agreed. “It was both exciting and terrifying,” Mr. Berlanti said, breaking into nervous laughter.
Warner Bros. declined to bid for the theatrical distribution rights. Universal was interested but ultimately dropped out, citing a full release schedule, as did Paramount, according to three people briefed on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations. Disney was not an ideal candidate because it focuses almost exclusively on franchises.
In the end, it was one executive, Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Films, who made the difference. “I wanted this movie for one simple reason: I loved it,” Rothman said. “That’s a real credit to Greg’s direction. It took a very high degree of difficulty to balance the tone, and he did it beautifully.”
In recent years, Mr. Rothman has stressed the need for traditional studios to take a mixed approach to movies, not just sequels and superheroes. Sony, for example, released the romantic comedy “Anyone but You” in theaters in December. It grossed $8 million its opening weekend and had a $220 million run by the end of its run (after costing $25 million to produce). No romantic comedy has been widely released in theaters since.
“It’s not about the weekend these movies are released,” Rothman said. “You have to nurture them and let word of mouth do the trick.”
July offered an opportunity to counterprogram “Fly Me to the Moon,” he added. Next weekend, Universal will release “Twisters,” an action remake based on computer-generated visual effects. Next up is the Marvel superhero sequel “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
“The older audience doesn’t disappear in the summer,” Mr. Rothman said. “It’s just that the industry doesn’t offer them much to watch.” Box-office analysts expect “Fly Me to the Moon” to gross about $12 million over the weekend, which would put it second behind “Despicable Me 4.”
The reviews for “Fly Me to the Moon” have been good, if not exceptional. Will people who say they want original films come out and support “Fly Me to the Moon” in the long run?
Mr. Berlanti answered with a resounding yes. “It’s a feel-good movie, an antidote to what a lot of people are feeling right now,” he said. (His career is doing well either way; his production company has more than 20 projects in the works, including two new dramas set to air on NBC in the fall and a live-action Scooby-Doo series for Netflix.)
Ms Johansson was a little more circumspect.
“I think we’ll see,” she said. “We have to keep trying.”