The 1969 Space Movie That Got Lost Between Apollo 11 and Kubrick

Back in 1944, a young actor named Gregory Peck showed up on movie screens for the first time in a war film called "Days of Glory." That same year, he also landed his breakthrough role in "The Keys of the Kingdom," which earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. By the time the 1960s were winding down, Peck had become one of Hollywood's biggest names. People loved him not just for acting, but also for his work helping others around the world. So when he signed on to star in a space movie during the Apollo era, expectations were high.

The movie was "Marooned," released in 1969. It told the story of three astronauts who get stuck in orbit around Earth with their oxygen running out. Nobody can reach them, and time is ticking. It was based on a book by Martin Caidin that came out in 1964. But here is the thing - the original novel only had one astronaut stranded, not three. The screenplay writer Mayo Simon changed that. He wanted more drama and more characters to root for. This was actually years before Sandra Bullock starred in "Gravity" with her character alone in space. Hackman, Crenna, and Franciscus were the three men who found themselves in that terrifying situation.

John Sturges directed the film. He had already made some of the most exciting movies of his era. Think about films like "The Great Escape" from 1963, "The Magnificent Seven" from 1960, and "Gunfight at the OK Corral" from 1957. He knew how to build tension and tell stories that grabbed audiences. Sturges brought that same energy to "Marooned." The movie also looked incredibly real because Columbia Pictures worked directly with NASA. The space agency lent actual Apollo equipment for the sets. This gave everything an authentic feel that audiences could trust.

Getting the movie made was actually pretty complicated. Back in the mid-1960s, Frank Capra tried to bring Caidin's book to the big screen first. He worked on it for a while but abandoned the project in 1966 because the costs were too high. Columbia Pictures then picked it up and hired Caidin himself as a technical advisor. Caidin even rewrote his own novel to match the movie script that was being developed. The updated book hit stores just weeks before the film premiered.

When "Marooned" finally opened in 1969, something huge had just happened. The Apollo 11 moon landing took place on July 21, 1969. The movie came out roughly four months after that historic event. People were absolutely fascinated by space travel at that point in history. You would think a film with real NASA gear and an all-star cast would do well at the box office. But the numbers tell a different story. "Marooned" only brought in about $4.3 million, yet it cost somewhere between $8 million and $10 million to make. That is a pretty rough financial loss.

Critics did not exactly embrace it either. Many felt the pacing dragged in certain parts. Plus, Stanley Kubrick released "2001: A Space Odyssey" that same year, and that film completely overshadowed everything else in science fiction. However, not everything went badly. Visual effects supervisor Robbie Robertson took home the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. That part of the movie really did work. These days, "Marooned" is available for free on Tubi if you want to check it out yourself. It may not be the most famous space film ever made, but it has an interesting story behind it that makes it worth knowing about.