Josh Gad has closed a deal to star in Roland Emmerich’s “Moonfall,” an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.
Gad is the first actor to join the ensemble of the disaster thriller, which was also written by Emmerich alongside “2021” co-writer Harald Kloser and Spenser Cohen.
Lionsgate is distributing the film in North America and is eyeing a production start this fall.
In “Moonfall,” a mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact, and against all odds, a ragtag team launches an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love and risking everything to land on the lunar surface and save our planet from annihilation.
Emmerich is producing “Moonfall” under his Centropolis banner with Kloser producing through his company, Street Entertainment. The film was first introduced to buyers at Cannes back in May, with Centropolis raising equity funding alongside CAA Media Finance and AGC. AGC sold the North American rights to Lionsgate and is handling worldwide sales, and AGC and Centropolis came out of Cannes with deals in the high eight figures in hand.
Gad most recently starred in “Frozen II,” “Little Monsters,” “The Angry Birds Movie 2” and “A Dog’s Journey.” His other credits include “Murder on the Orient Express,” “Frozen,” “Marshall” and “Beauty and the Beast.” He will next be seen in “Artemis Fowl.”
The actor is represented by WME, Imprint PR and Ziffren Brittenham.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.