NASA race drama Hidden Figures has today welcomed aboard Kevin Costner, according to Variety, who will now star alongside Octavia Spencer and Taraji P. Henson.
Adapted from Margot Lee Shetterly’s acclaimed novel, Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race, the 2017 drama has already found a home at Fox 2000, with a core premise that is packed to the brim with Oscar credentials.
Chronicling the true story of the brilliant black women that helped put NASA on the map during the early 60s, Hidden Figures will have Spencer and Taraji P. Henson play the mathematicians and scientists instrumental in launching the Friendship 7 orbit and, by effect, ensuring that John Glenn become the first American astronaut to orbit the earth during the formative years of the space race.
No word yet on who Costner will be playing in the feature, though common logic would dictate that the Criminal star will assume the role of a high-ranking official. Henson, meanwhile, headlines Hidden Figures as Johnson, “a brilliant African-American mathematician who, along with her colleagues Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson, served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history.”
Hidden Figures is setting sights on a January 13, 2017 release date, and we expect production to get underway in the coming months. Ted Melfi (St. Vincent) is behind the camera.