Michelle Williams is set to play astronaut Christa McAuliffe in 'The Challenger'.

Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams

The 38-year-old actress will star in the Martin Zandvliet-directed movie about the 1986 space shuttle tragedy, with production expected to begin in 2019, Deadline reports.

Producer Ben Renzo said: "We are more than humbled and extremely grateful for the opportunity to help tell the story of Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger mission."

The movie will tell the true story of the high school teacher who was selected to join NASA's Teacher in Space Project.

Eventually, McAuliffe became part of the crew on-board the Space Shuttle Challenger, which exploded 73 seconds after takeoff, killing everyone on board.

Ben added: "Christa McAuliffe's legacy deserves the strength, courage, experience and humanity that Michelle Williams brings to the role.

"The entire Argent Pictures team is honoured and eager to responsibly capture and share the events and personal journeys of those surrounding this important historical moment with audiences around the world to help remember and further appreciate the sacrifices Christa and rest of the Challenger crew made to further our journey into space."

Meanwhile, Michelle - who is a four-time Oscar nominee - is next set to star alongside Tom Hardy and Riz Ahmed in 'Venom'.

The acclaimed actress plays a district attorney and Tom's on-screen girlfriend in the new superhero movie, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name.


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