Next week, Brad Pitt will be seen on the big screen in ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD, the latest film from writer/director Quentin Tarantino. Less than two months later, Pitt will be returning to the big screen in director James Gray's sci-fi epic AD ASTRA. It seems kind of odd that both of these movies are coming out now, as they seem like the kind of awards contenders that would usually be scheduled for November or December releases. But I guess they want to advoid being out at the same time as STAR WARS.
Written by Gray and Ethan Gross, AD ASTRA tells a story that has been compared to the 1899 Joseph Conrad novella Heart of Darkness, which was also the inspiration for APOCALYPSE NOW. Pitt's character is
astronaut Roy McBride, who travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.
His co-stars include Tommy Lee Jones, Liv Tyler, Ruth Negga, John Ortiz, Donald Sutherland, and Jamie Kennedy.
A new trailer for AD ASTRA can be seen below. It looks quite impressive, a technical achievement that also has an emotional element and some cool-looking action moments.
This film is scheduled to reach theatres on September 20th, which is unfortunate because that puts it up against RAMBO: LAST BLOOD.