Ad Astra is a 2019 American science fiction film directed by James Gray, and written by Gray and Ethan Gross. The film stars Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland.
Plot[]
Twenty years after his father left on a one-way mission to Neptune in order to find signs of extra-terrestrial intelligence, Roy McBride, an Army Corps engineer, travels through the solar system to find him and understand why his mission failed.
Cast[]
- Brad Pitt as Roy Richard McBride, a major in U.S. Space Command
- Tommy Lee Jones as H. Clifford McBride, Roy's father, and the Commander of the missing Lima Project
- Ruth Negga as Helen Lantos
- Liv Tyler as Eve McBride, Roy's wife
- Donald Sutherland as Colonel Thomas Pruitt
- John Ortiz as Lieutenant General Rivas
- Greg Bryk as Chip Garnes
- Loren Dean as Donald Stanford
- Natasha Lyonne as Tanya Pincus
- John Finn as Brigadier General Stroud
- Kimberly Elise as Lorraine Deavers
- Sean Blakemore as Willie Levant
- Bobby Nish as Franklin Yoshida
- LisaGay Hamilton as Adjutant General Amelia Vogel
- Donnie Keshawarz as Captain Lawrence Tanner
Production[]
Director James Gray first confirmed his plans to write and direct Ad Astra on May 12, 2016 during the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
In April 2017, whilst promoting The Lost City of Z, Gray compared the story of Ad Astra to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Gray also mentioned that he intended for the film to feature "the most realistic depiction of space travel that's been put in a movie and to basically say, 'Space is awfully hostile to us.'" Gray also confirmed that filming for Ad Astra would commence on July 17, 2017.
On April 10, 2017, James Gray confirmed that Brad Pitt would star in Ad Astra. In June, Tommy Lee Jones joined the cast to portray Pitt's lost father. In August, Ruth Negga, John Finn, Donald Sutherland, and Jamie Kennedy joined the cast.
Principal photography on the film began in mid-August 2017 in Santa Clarita, California.
Release[]
Ad Astra was released in September 20, 2019, by 20th Century Fox. It was previously scheduled for January 11, 2019 and on May 24, 2019.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The name Ad Astra may come from the Latin Ad Astera (even though Astera is accusative singular for Astēr, which means "star" and is masculine). Thus, it means "to the star". The proper title is Ad Asterēs ("to the stars").
