In 2003, NASA sent a 5-foot-tall rover called Opportunity to our neighbor in the solar system, Mars. The robot, nicknamed Oppy, was designed to explore a small rocky area of the red planet for a few months, but lived for another 15 years.
In this case, “lived” is an anthropomorphic word for the metal-and-glass rover you’ll hear used often by NASA engineers in “Good Night Oppy,” director Ryan White’s dazzling film about the Opportunity mission. Made with the backing of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Peter Berg’s Film 45, the documentary features long, unbelievable, photorealistic CGI scenes of Oppy shooting and hard at work on Mars, made with the help of George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic.
For TheWrap’s Screening Series, director White (“Ask Dr. Ruth,” Netflix’s “Assassins,” “The Keepers”) and producer Jessica Hargrave spoke with TheWrap’s Drew Taylor about the film. They were joined by NASA JPL engineers Doug Ellison and Bekah Sosland Siegfriedt, who participated in the project.
Each panelist spoke about the inspirational weight of Oppy’s story and how and why the robot captured the hearts of so many viewers, particularly the very young.
“Someone stopped me the other day and said, ‘You look so familiar, how do I know you?'” Sosland Siegfriedt recalled. “And then they were like, ‘Oh my God, you’re on ‘Good Night Oppy’!”
“One of my favorite responses to the movie was a girl who came up to me after seeing it. And she was like, ‘Wow, I want to do this when I grow up.’ I want to be a Mars rover operator. I want to do it because I saw how funny and sweet and kind people are. And I also want to be like that when I grow up,’” added the engineer. “It’s one thing if someone wants to do this for technical reasons or whatever, but wanting to do it to be nice and respectful and geeky and nerdy and fun, that’s another level of awesomeness.”
On that topic, Director White expressed how he hopes NASA’s real-world subjects will inspire others.
“I desperately wanted to be an astronaut growing up, but I had no role models in that world,” White said. “So if kids can find role models through this movie, then I’m thrilled.”
“Good Night Oppy,” narrated by Oscar nominee and “Black Panther” star Angela Bassett, recently won five awards at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, including Best Narration, Best Director and Best Documentary. The film is eligible for this year’s Oscar in the documentary category.
To learn more about TheWrap’s conversation, click through to watch the full 40-minute video. here.
“good night oppyis in theaters and is currently streaming on Prime Video.
