Voyagers: Andrew Garfield to play astronomer Carl Sagan in Sebastian Lelio-directed drama

Andrew Garfield is heading for the stars. Reports indicate the Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hacksaw Ridge actor Andrew Garfield is playing astronomer Carl Sagan in Voyagers, a new film from Sebastian Lelio. In addition to Garfield, Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People, War of the Worlds) joins the cast as Cosmos filmmaker Ann Druyan. The project is going to the Cannes market this month, courtesy of FilmNation Entertainment.

The Voyagers story takes place in 1977 at NASA, where Sagan’s team is preparing to launch humanity’s first interstellar probes. The launch includes a message from the team responsible for the monumental devices, dubbed The Golden Record. The story begins as a race to complete the mission on time, then transitions into an unforeseen love story between Sagan and Druyan. FilmNation Entertainment introduced Druyan to screenwriters Lelio and Jessica Goldberg, who wrote the original Voyagers screenplay based on interviews with Druyan and other contributors to the Golden Record mission.

Carl Sagan is an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, science communicator, author, and professor. Continuously quoted by science enthusiasts, Sagan’s work is legendary and is responsible for inspiring others to pursue the sciences.

Lelio’s next feature is Bride, starring Scarlett Johansson. The story follows a woman created to be the ideal wife, but when she rejects her creator, she flees her confined existence, confronting a world that sees her as a monster. Lelio wrote the script with Rebecca Angelo and Lauren Schucker Blum.

Garfield is preparing to star alongside Florence Pugh in the John Crowley-directed We Live in Time. Plot details remain a mystery, but Deadline says the film is a “funny, deeply moving, and immersive love story.”

As for Edgar-Jones, she recently completed work on Daniel Minahan’s On Swift Horses. The drama tells the story of Muriel and her husband, Lee, who find their new life upended by the arrival of Lee’s brother. Muriel enters a secret life, gambling on racehorses and discovering a love she never thought possible. Bryce Kass and Shannon Pufahl wrote the script.

What do you think about Garfield playing Carl Sagan in Voyagers? Have you ever read any of Sagan’s famous works? Let us know in the comments.