Ad Astra 2019

Ad Astra (Latin for "To the stars") is a 2019 psychological science fiction film directed by James Gray who co-wrote with Ethan Gross. Starring Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland, it follows an astronaut who ventures into space in search of his lost father, whose obsessive quest to discover intelligent alien life at all costs threatens the Solar System and all life on Earth. The project was announced in early 2016, with Gray stating he wanted to feature "the most realistic depiction of space travel that's been put in a movie". Pitt signed on to star in August 2016 and the rest of the cast, save Tyler, joined in 2017. Filming began around Los Angeles that August, lasting through October. Tyler was added to the cast in 2018 after unsatisfactory test screenings mandated a love interest for Pitt's character. Ad Astra premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 29, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 20, by 20th Century Fox.