Production Information


In Coalwood, West Virginia in 1957, all the boys grow up to be coal miners and Homer Hickam (Jake Gyllenhaal) has no reason to think he’ll be any different. Too small to earn a football scholarship, Homer has no way out of his predetermined life -- until the Soviet satellite Sputnik flies over the October sky and changes everything. Homer’s world just got a lot bigger. 

Though his father is a mine superintendent and has no greater wish than to see his sons follow in his footsteps, Homer embarks on a mission to build and launch his own homemade rockets with the help of his loyal band of friends. Though their frequent mistakes nearly get them shut down, their successes inspire the whole town to believe that miracles can happen even in Coalwood, and there’s nothing wrong with shooting for the stars.

Universal Pictures presents October Sky, based on the triumphant true story of Homer Hickam, Jr., a high school student in rural West Virginia, who seemed destined to repeat his father’s life in the coal mines until he turned his attention to the skies. At odds with his father, determined to better himself and inspired by the dawn of the space age, he embarks on a quixotic mission that changes his life forever. October Sky is directed by Joe Johnston (Jumanji, The Rocketeer) and produced by Charles Gordon (Field of Dreams) and Larry Franco (Batman Returns). Lewis Colick (The Ghosts of Mississippi) based his screenplay on the autobiography Rocket Boys by NASA science engineer Homer Hickam, Jr.