Magnificent Desolation is the third Apollo-related project for Hanks: he was previously involved in the film Apollo 13 and the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.

The cast includes Andrew Husmann, Aaron White, Brandy Blackledge, Gary Hershberger, and Scott Wilder.

The voice cast includes Morgan Freeman, John Travolta, Paul Newman, Matt Damon, Matthew McConaughey.

Bryan Cranston and Peter Scolari reprised their From the Earth to the Moon roles as Buzz Aldrin and Pete Conrad, respectively; many of the other actors had previously portrayed different people depicted in the film, in From the Earth to the Moon, The Right Stuff, and/or Apollo 13.

The title comes from Buzz Aldrin's description[3] of the lunar landscape: Aldrin's statement was substantially predicted nineteen years earlier in the film, Destination Moon (1950), in which Charles Cargraves, the fictional second man on the Moon, states "The first impression is one of utter barrenness and desolation.