Deadline is reporting that Venom star Michelle Williams is set to play teacher and astronaut Christa McAuliffe in The Challenger, a film based upon the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy, which is being directed by Martin Zandvliet (Land of Mine).
McAuliffe was a New Hampshire high school teacher who was selected to join NASA’s Teacher in Space Project. However, she was killed along with her six crewmates when the Challenger shuttle exploded shortly after take off from Cape Canaveral on January 28th 1986. McAuliffe was posthumously honored with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
“We are more than humbled and extremely grateful for the opportunity to help tell the story of Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger mission,” said producer Ben Renzo of Argent Pictures. “Christa McAuliffe’s legacy deserves the strength, courage, experience and humanity that Michelle Williams brings to the role. The entire Argent team is honored and eager to responsibly capture and share the events and personal journeys of those surrounding this important historical moment with audiences around the world to help remember and further appreciate the sacrifices Christa and rest of the Challenger crew made to further our journey into space.”
Williams next appears in the Sony superhero blockbuster Venom, which opens in cinemas this week, while she has also recently wrapped filming on After the Wedding, where she stars alongside Julianne Moore.
