So, you’ve probably heard some chatter about the Scarlett Johansson moon movie. Maybe you saw a clip on TikTok of her looking like a 1960s fashion icon, or perhaps you caught a headline about a "fake moon landing" and wondered if Marvel’s Black Widow had finally gone down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole.
The movie is actually titled Fly Me to the Moon. Honestly, it’s one of the most interesting—and expensive—bets Apple Original Films has made in recent years. It isn't a sci-fi epic about aliens or a dark thriller. It’s a high-stakes romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. But there’s a massive "what if" at the center of it that has people confused.
Basically, the film asks: what if the U.S. government was so terrified of losing the Space Race that they filmed a backup moon landing on a secret soundstage?
What the Scarlett Johansson Moon Movie is Actually About
Let’s get the plot straight because it’s easy to misinterpret the "fake landing" angle. Scarlett plays Kelly Jones, a shark-like marketing executive from New York who is hired by a mysterious government operative named Moe Berkus (played by a very shady Woody Harrelson). Her job? Fix NASA’s public image. People were getting bored with space, and the Vietnam War was draining the national budget.
She arrives at Cape Canaveral and immediately starts clashing with Cole Davis, the straight-laced launch director played by Channing Tatum. While he’s worried about fuel valves and safety protocols, she’s busy trying to get Tang and Omega watches to sponsor the mission.
✨ Don't miss: Cómo salvar a tu favorito: La verdad sobre la votación de La Casa de los Famosos Colombia
The "moon movie" part kicks into high gear when Harrelson’s character tells Kelly she needs to direct a fake version of the landing—just in case the real one fails. They call it "Project Artemis." It’s a backup broadcast. The tension comes from Kelly trying to pull off this massive lie while falling for the one guy at NASA who values the truth above everything else.
The Wild History Behind the Scenes
This movie had a bumpy ride before it ever hit theaters in July 2024. If you follow Hollywood trade news, you might remember it was originally called Project Artemis.
At one point, it was supposed to be a massive Avengers reunion. Chris Evans was originally set to star opposite Scarlett, and Jason Bateman was lined up to direct. Can you imagine that version? It probably would have felt way more like a dry, cynical office comedy.
Bateman ended up leaving over "creative differences," and the scheduling shift meant Chris Evans had to drop out. Enter Greg Berlanti, the guy who basically built the CW’s "Arrowverse," and Channing Tatum. This changed the whole vibe. The movie shifted from a potentially gritty satire to a colorful, big-budget romantic dramedy.
🔗 Read more: Cliff Richard and The Young Ones: The Weirdest Bromance in TV History Explained
Did NASA Really Help Make This?
You’d think NASA would be annoyed by a movie that jokes about faking their greatest achievement. Surprisingly, they were all in.
Director Greg Berlanti has mentioned in interviews that NASA was incredibly supportive. They let the crew shoot inside the actual Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and around the Kennedy Space Center. The technical advisors were real Apollo-era veterans.
NASA basically figured that as long as the movie showed the real mission was successful, they didn't mind the "fake backup" plotline as a comedic device. It’s sort of a "have your cake and eat it too" situation. The film honors the 400,000 people who actually worked on the mission while winking at the Stanley Kubrick conspiracy theories that have floated around for decades.
Why the $100 Million Budget Matters
Here is where the business side gets kinda crazy. Fly Me to the Moon cost roughly $100 million to produce.
💡 You might also like: Christopher McDonald in Lemonade Mouth: Why This Villain Still Works
That is an insane amount of money for a romantic comedy. To put that in perspective, most modern rom-coms are made for $20 million to $40 million. Why was it so expensive?
- Star Salaries: You don't get Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum for cheap.
- Period Accuracy: They built massive, high-fidelity sets to recreate the 1960s NASA control rooms.
- The Moon Set: The "fake" moon landing set within the movie had to look convincing enough for a 1969 audience, which required its own specialized cinematography and wire work.
The movie ended up grossing about $42 million at the global box office. On paper, that’s a disaster. But because it’s an Apple Original Film, the "rules" of success are different. They care more about getting people into the Apple TV+ ecosystem than they do about the first weekend's ticket sales. By early 2026, the film has actually found a huge second life on streaming, consistently sitting in the Top 10 lists.
Separation of Fact and Fiction
If you’re watching this for a history lesson, keep your salt shaker handy.
- Kelly Jones isn't real. There was no secret Madison Avenue genius who "sold" the moon, though the script was inspired by the book Marketing the Moon by David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek.
- The Apollo 1 Tragedy is real. The movie handles this with a lot of respect. Channing Tatum’s character is haunted by the 1967 fire that killed three astronauts, which was a very real, very dark turning point for NASA.
- The "Fake" Landing. To be clear: there is zero historical evidence that NASA ever filmed a "backup" moon landing. Bill Barry, NASA’s former chief historian, has been very vocal that the Soviet Union would have spotted a fake immediately. If the Americans had faked it, the Russians would have shouted it from the rooftops.
The Ending: A Twist on the Truth
The climax of the movie is actually a pretty clever bit of filmmaking. It plays with the idea of "which version are we watching?" Without giving away every single beat, the film manages to satisfy both the cynics and the dreamers. It highlights that the effort to get there was the real miracle, regardless of the cameras.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the world of the Scarlett Johansson moon movie, your best bet is to watch it on Apple TV+ and then look up the actual documentary footage of the Apollo 11 mission. Comparing the "fake" sets in the movie to the grainy, real-life footage from 1969 makes you realize just how impossible that mission actually was.
What to do next:
If you enjoyed the 60s aesthetic and the space-race tension, check out the book Marketing the Moon. It details the actual PR campaigns—like how they got astronauts on the cover of Life magazine—that made the world fall in love with space. You can also look for the documentary Apollo 11 (2019), which uses 70mm footage that looks so crisp you'll understand why people started those "it must be fake" rumors in the first place.