Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum seem to be among the latest victims of Apple Studios. The massive company can make millions off of tech and games, but their movies seem to struggle. Though some Apple originals are stellar, and one or two broke through, most seem to vanish upon release. It’s like a machine that somehow reverses the pull of star power. Fly Me to the Moon fell into that unfortunate memory hole, but it’s getting its second chance on Apple TV+.
Fly Me to the Moon director Greg Berlanti is mostly known for masterminding DC Comics’ Arrowverse. He created Arrow and worked on The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and more. Berlanti also developed Titans and Superman & Lois. Apart from his astonishing thumbprint on the DC Universe, he’s also the man behind Netflix’s You and the director of Love, Simon. Fly Me to the Moon kind of fits into his oeuvre, because just about anything would at this point.
Scarlett Johannson and Channing Tatum Fly to the Moon on Apple TV+
Fly Me to the Moon is a romantic comedy in a world that seems to have moved away from the concept. Rom-coms drop straight-to-streaming these days, but there are still people who demand them. That would have been the fate of Berlanti’s latest, but positive test screenings convinced Apple to push it to theaters. As is often the case, that was the wrong call. The film follows Scarlett Johansson as a marketing executive who takes on a questionable gig to fake the moon landing, just in case. The government thinks they can probably pull off the Apollo mission, but they want a backup plan. That’s a funny premise and a cute way to curb the conspiracy elements. Channing Tatum plays a principled professional launch director who clashes with Johansson, only to stumble into romantic tension. It’s one part breezy rom-com to one part historical comedy, and the clash almost works.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it; Fly Me to the Moon bombed hard at the box office. It cost Apple $100 million and only earned $42.2 million in its short, awkward theatrical run. This was a major studio comedy that went up against Longlegs and lost. I celebrate that as a victory for Osgood Perkins as much as a loss for Apple. Once it dropped onto Apple TV+, it rocketed to #1 in most of the world. It’s only been up for a few days, but it’s a near shoe-in for the month’s biggest Apple offering. That definitely speaks to its success on the small screen, but it’s hard to say whether it would have pulled that in without the theatrical bump.
Critics generally liked Fly Me to the Moon, granting it a slightly promising 65% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes. The pros were divided, and that lack of consensus extends to the audience. It feels like a film that couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. The historical elements and the rom-com pace never quite gel. Still, even with its struggles, Fly Me to the Moon still has miles to fall. At least it’s not Argylle.
