Disney’s Crater sounds a lot Like Stand By Me on the Moon

Disney+ has a new film entering production: Crater. The movie is being described as a coming-of-age adventure set on the moon—after a boy raised on a lunar mining colony loses his father, he and his best friends head off on one last adventure to a moon crater before he’s moved out of the settlement to another planet.

The project has been in the works for a while now: Back in 2017, 20th Century Fox had acquired the script and had planned for Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum trilogy, Real Steel, Stranger Things, and the forthcoming Free Guy, producer for films like Arrival) to direct. With Disney’s takeover of Fox, the project seems to have shifted over to Disney.

Back in January, Disney brought on director Kyle Patrick Alvarez (Counterpart, 13 Reasons Why, Homecoming) to helm the film, which is being written by John Griffin (Twilight Zone, From) and produced by Levy and Dan Levine’s 21 Laps Entertainment (the same folks behind Netflix’s Stranger Things.)

Disney is building up the film’s cast now: In March, McKenna Grace (Gifted) came aboard, playing one of the central character’s best friends. Weeks later, Disney announced that Isaiah Russell-Bailey (Family Reunion) will play the lead, alongside Billy Barratt (Invasion), Thomas Boyce (Neuroblast), and Orson Hong, who will play the rest of group of friends. Most recently, it was revealed that Scott Mescudi (Westworld) will play the main character’s father.

The project is apparently poised to begin production this spring, and once complete, it will debut on Disney’s streaming service, Disney+.

Update: this series will debut on May 12th, 2023.