Between movies like GRAVITY, THE MARTIAN, INTERSTELLAR and, if word is to be believed, FIRST MAN, we are experiencing a tremendous run of space-related movies. Another movie that could find its way into that pantheon is James Gray’s (THE LOST CITY OF Z) upcoming movie AD ASTRA starring Brad Pitt. It’s been quiet on the news front when it comes to the project, but now there’s something to talk about as the first image of Pitt in the space suit has made its way online.
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The movie is about Pitt’s Roy McBride, an Army engineer who heads out into space to find his father who went missing on an expedition to Neptune 20 years earlier. The movie also stars Ruth Negga, Jamie Kennedy, Donald Sutherland and Tommy Lee Jones as Pitt’s father. Oh, and if all that doesn’t get you excited, then maybe knowing that none other than Hoyte Van Hoytema is shooting the movie with Thomas Newman behind the score. If you’re not psyched, then I don’t know what to tell you.
Gray said last year that he was inspired by Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness,” and that he is trying to do “the most realistic depiction of space travel that’s been put in a movie.” Looking at his last effort, THE LOST CITY OF Z, we can get an idea of where he will take the movie tonally, as that movie dug deep into the psychology of men who dare to explore the unknown parts of our own world, and he turned out an incredibly meditative, enriching film.
This image may not be a lot but it certainly gives a taste of what kind of aesthetic the movie is going for. This could very well be the next divisive sci-fi movie, much like this year’s ANNIHILATION, but the January release date hints the movie may try to go limited by the end of the year to qualify for some awards.
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AD ASTRA is currently set for January 11, 2019.