Halle Berry will star in Moonfall, the latest sci-fi disaster picture from Roland Emmerich.
Berry joins Josh Gad, who was first to sign up, in the thriller that Emmerich — who made destroying Earthly landmarks his signature with movies such as Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow — co-wrote and is directing.
Production is eyeing a fall start with Lionsgate, which released Emmerich‘s previous effort, the World War II pic Midway, set to distribute in North America.
Penned by Emmerich and 2012 co-writer Harald Kloser and Spenser Cohen, Moonfall sees its plot go into action when the moon is knocked from its orbit by a mysterious force and is on a collision course with Earth. Life as we know it hangs in the balance and with just weeks to go before impact, a ragtag team is sent on a seemingly impossible mission to land on the lunar surface and save humanity.
Gad is playing an eccentric genius who deduces that the moon has fallen out of its orbit.
Berry will play an astronaut turned NASA administrator whose previous mission holds a clue to the catastrophe.
Emmerich is producing Moonfall under his Centropolis banner, with Kloser producing through his company, Street Entertainment.
As he did with Midway, Emmerich and Centropolis are independently producing and financing Moonfall, overseeing all aspects of production, financing and delivery. They are also collaborating with Lionsgate and AGC International, which sold out the film worldwide in Cannes 2019, as well as with international distributors on marketing and distribution.
Lionsgate is eyeing a North American release in 2021.
Getting Berry for an outing is a big deal as the Oscar-winning actress has made few big-screen appearances in recent years. Her last effort saw her team with Keanu Reeves to shoot, stab and maim in 2019’s John Wick 3: Parabellum. Before that, she appeared in 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Berry also recently wrapped her directorial debut, Bruised, in which she also stars as a female MMA fighter.
Berry is repped by WME and Management 360.