In 2003, NASA sent a 5-foot tall rover named Opportunity to our neighbor in the solar system, Mars. The robot, nicknamed Oppy, was designed to explore a small rocky patch of the red planet for a few months, but it lived for another 15 years.
In this case, “lived” in an anthropomorphic word for the metal and glass rover that 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, incredible, photo-realistic CGI scenes of Oppy rolling around and toiling on Mars, made with assistance from George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic.
For TheWrap’s Screening Series, director White (“Ask Dr. Ruth,” “Assassins,” Netflix’s “The Keepers”) and producer Jessica Hargrave spoke to TheWrap’s Drew Taylor about the film. They were joined by NASA JPL Engineers Doug Ellison and Bekah Sosland Siegfriedt, both of whom participated in the project.
Each panelist spoke about the inspirational weight of Oppy’s story and how and why the robot stole the hearts of so many viewers, particularly its younger set.
“Somebody stopped me the other day and said, ‘You look so familiar, how do I know you?’” Sosland Siegfriedt recalled “And then they said, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re in ‘Good Night Oppy’!”
“One of my favorite responses from the film was a little girl who came up to me after she saw it. And she said, ‘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 fun and sweet and kind the people are. And I want to be like that too when I grow up,’” the engineer added. “It’s one thing if someone wants to do this for the technical reasons or whatever, but to want to do in order to be kind and respectful and geeky and nerdy and fun – that is just a whole other level of amazingness.”
On that theme, director White expressed how he hopes the NASA real-world subjects will inspire others.
“I wanted to be an astronaut desperately growing up, but I had no role models in that world,” said White. “So if kids can find role models through this film, then I’m thrilled.”
“Good Night Oppy,” which is narrated by Oscar nominee and “Black Panther” star Angela Bassett, recently won five prizes at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, including Best Narration, Best Director and Best Documentary Feature. The film is eligible for this year’s Oscar in the documentary category.
For much more from TheWrap’s conversation, click to watch the full 40-minute video here.
“Good Night Oppy” is in theaters and currently streaming on Prime Video.
