Lord Miller, the production company led by Academy Award winners Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is producing a film based on “The Six: The Extraordinary Story of the Grit and Daring of America’s First Women Astronauts” for Universal Pictures.
A synopsis of “The Six” explains that journalist Loren Grush’s bestseller “tells the thrilling, heroic and unexpectedly funny story of the six women who defied the odds, the naysayers and gravity itself to become America’s first female astronauts, culminating in Sally Ride’s historic Shuttle journey into space.” Rachel Lee Goldenberg (“Unpregnant,” “Tiny Beautiful Things”) is set to direct the film and will adapt the story with Bill Parker (“Unpregnant”).
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Tam O’Shaughnessy, Ride’s longtime partner, is consulting on the project. “When I read ‘The Six,’ I couldn’t put it down,” O’Shaughnessy said in a statement. “It’s such a vivid portrait of America’s first six female astronauts — their challenges, friendships, competitiveness, training, love lives, sorrows and joys. I knew it would make a great movie.”
She continued: “When I met Rachel, Bill and the teams at Universal Pictures and Lord Miller, I knew they were the perfect people to tell this important story. The real story of those extraordinary women including my late partner, Sally Ride — the first American woman to go to space.”
Lord, Miller and company president Aditya Sood will produce the feature via Lord Miller’s first-look deal at the studio. Lucy Kitada, Lord Miller’s EVP and head of film, brought the project to the company, as she previously produced Goldenberg’s “Unpregnant.” Kitada and Nikki Baida will executive produce for Lord Miller.
The project marks Lord Miller’s second consecutive space adventure following “Project Hail Mary,” the 2026 release for MGM — the trailer for which garnered a massive 400 million views in its first week. Lord and Miller directed the film and produced along with Sood, Amy Pascal, star Ryan Gosling and Rachel O’Connor. Next up, Lord Miller is behind “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” the highly-anticipated third film in the Spider-Verse franchise, which will be released June 2027; the film is written and produced by Lord and Miller. The company is also producing the features “The Last Expedition” by Carly Wray, based on a story by Andy Weir, and “Everyday Parenting Tips,” written by Travis Braun, based on the story by Simon Rich.
Goldenberg and Parker most recently teamed up on the upcoming film “Swiped,” for 20th Century Studios, which follows the true story of Tinder and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe. Goldenberg directed the film, debuting at TIFF this fall, from a script she co-wrote with Parker.
UTA represents Lord Miller, Goldenberg and Grush. Lord Miller is also repped by JSSK; Goldenberg is also represented by 831 Entertainment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Parker is repped by Jackoway Austen Tyerman; and Grush is also represented by Susan Canavan at WLA Books.
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