'Crater': Mckenna Grace To Star In Disney+ Film Described As 'Stand By Me' On The Moon

Mckenna Grace may not be a Big Deal quite yet, but considering the way things are going for her, it won't be long before she's a household name. The 14-year-old actor has already appeared in films like Captain Marvel and Ready Player One, and she'll soon play a significant role in Sony's Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Now she's snagged what could be one of her biggest roles yet: a supporting part in Crater, a Disney+ sci-fi coming-of-age movie that shares some DNA with Rob Reiner's 1986 classic Stand By Me – but this film will be set on the moon.

Deadline reports that Mckenna Grace has joined the Crater cast, becoming the first member of the movie's ensemble. Here's the quick description of the movie:

Crater is described as a coming-of-age story in the vein of Stand By Me, set on a moon colony. After the death of his father, a boy growing up on a lunar mining colony takes a trip to explore a mysterious crater, along with his four best friends, prior to being permanently relocated to another planet.

Grace is set to play one of the best friends. She first got on my radar as the precocious daughter of Chris Evans' character in a nice little family drama called Gifted in 2017, but she has had an extensive resumé for such a young performer. She's been in horror projects (The Haunting of Hill House, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Amityville: The Awakening, Annabelle Comes Home, and James Wan's upcoming Malignant), dramas (Mr. Church; Gifted; I, Tonya), comedies (Troop Zero, Fuller House, Young Sheldon), and she'll soon show up in The Handmaid's Tale season 4. If you have kids, you've probably also heard her voice work before: she's been in The Angry Birds Movie, Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures, Scoob!, and she stars in the upcoming animated horse film Spirit Untamed.

Shawn Levy, the filmmaker behind movies like Real Steel, The Night at the Museum films, Date Night, and the upcoming Ryan Reynolds-led video game film Free Guy, was originally looking to direct this film, but Deadline says Levy has now stepped into a producer role and someone else will get behind the camera instead. No replacement director has been locked in yet, but Levy will produce alongside Dan Levine.

Filming on Crater is aiming to begin this spring, and there's no word yet about when it might arrive on Disney+.