''Ad Astra'' (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for '
To the Stars') is a 2019 American
psychological
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
adventure drama film
An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, anim ...
co-produced, co-written, and directed by
James Gray
James, Jim, or Jimmy Gray may refer to:
Politicians
* James Gray (Australian politician) (1820–1889), member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly
* James Gray (British politician) (born 1954), British politician
* James Gray (mayor) (1862–1916 ...
. Starring
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
(who also co-produced),
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...
,
Ruth Negga
Ruth Negga ( ; born 7 January 1981) is an Ethiopian-Irish actress known for the AMC television series ''Preacher'' and the film '' Loving''. For her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the latter, Negga received several major nominations from the Ac ...
,
Liv Tyler
Liv Rundgren Tyler (born Liv Rundgren; July 1, 1977) is an American actress, producer, singer and former model. She began a modeling career at age 14. She later decided to focus on acting and made her film debut in ''Silent Fall'' (1994); she ...
, and
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...
, 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 saying he wanted to feature "the most realistic depiction of space travel that's been put in a movie". Pitt signed on to star in April 2017 and the rest of the cast joined later that year. Filming began around Los Angeles that August, lasting through October.
''Ad Astra'' premiered at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
on August29, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on September20, 2019, by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
.
It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Pitt's performance. At the
92nd Academy Awards
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 ...
, it was nominated for
Best Sound Mixing. However, the film was a
box office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, grossing $135million worldwide against an budget.
Plot
In the late 21st century, the
Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...
is being struck by mysterious power surges, threatening all human life. Major Roy McBride, son of astronaut H. Clifford McBride, believed dead, is informed by
U.S. Space Command
United States Space Command (USSPACECOM or SPACECOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in outer space, specifically all operations 100 kilometers (62 miles) and grea ...
(SpaceCom) that the surges have been traced to the "Lima Project", created 29 years earlier to search the galaxy for intelligent life, under Clifford's leadership. Nothing has been heard from the Lima crew since reaching
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...
16 years ago. Told his father may be alive, Roy agrees to travel to Mars from where he can attempt to establish communication with him. Roy is joined by Colonel Pruitt, his father's old associate. Roy, acclaimed for his ability to remain calm under extreme pressure, shows little emotional reaction to his father possibly being alive.
Arriving on the Moon, Roy and Pruitt are then escorted by U.S. military personnel to the SpaceCom base, located in a disputed war zone on the Moon's far side. En route in
lunar rover
A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo Program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. Other rov ...
s, scavenger pirates ambush them and kill the escorts. Roy and Pruitt make it to the base, but Pruitt suffers cardiac problems and remains behind. He gives Roy a classified message stating that if Roy fails to contact his father, then the Lima Project station will have to be destroyed. As Roy travels to Mars aboard ''Cepheus'', a distress signal is received from a Norwegian biomedical research space station. Captain Tanner insists they must investigate, overriding Roy's protests that the mission takes precedence and other ships can respond. The station appears to be abandoned. Tanner and Roy split up to investigate; Roy discovers an escaped
baboon
Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ba ...
attacking Tanner. Roy kills it and then a second baboon. Tanner dies from his injuries, but Roy shows little emotion. In a psychological evaluation, he admits to experiencing rage and recalls his father expressing his own rage.
Another surge hits as the ''Cepheus'' is attempting to land on Mars. Roy assumes command and calmly lands the ship after the acting captain/pilot is overcome with fear. In the underground SpaceCom base, Roy meets facility director Helen Lantos. He is told to record voice messages to send to the Lima Project in hopes that Clifford will respond. After receiving no response from their first message, the crew sends another, during which Roy goes off-script with an emotional appeal to his father. Clifford responds, though Roy is prevented from hearing the message. SpaceCom plans a mission to the Lima Project station but refuses to allow Roy to participate, believing his personal connection poses a risk. Roy's demand to hear the response is ignored and he is summarily removed to a "comfort room."
While sequestered, Roy is visited by Lantos, who reveals that both her parents were Lima Project team members. She shows Roy classified footage revealing that Clifford's team mutinied and attempted to return to Earth, causing him to shut off their life-support systems; her parents were among those killed. She tells Roy that the ''Cepheus'' will go to the Lima Project station to destroy it with a nuclear weapon. The two decide that Roy should confront Clifford, and Lantos helps Roy gain access to the rocket launch site.
Roy climbs aboard as the rocket takes off and is immediately discovered by the crew, who are instructed to neutralize him at any cost. The crew is unintentionally killed in the confrontation. During the 79-day journey to Neptune, a solitary Roy reflects on his relationship with his father and with his estranged wife, Eve. The mission's isolation and stress take a mental toll. While approaching the Lima Project station in a shuttle attached to the ''Cepheus'', the shuttle is damaged in a collision with objects in Neptune's rings during another surge and is unable to dock with the station. Roy enters the station via a spacewalk while the shuttle drifts away. Finding the crew's dead bodies inside, he plants the nuclear weapon before encountering Clifford, the station's sole survivor. Clifford explains that the surges are coming from the ship's malfunctioning antimatter power source, which was damaged in the mutiny. Clifford reveals to Roy that there is no extraterrestrial life out there, and human beings are alone in this universe. Clifford admits to Roy that he never really cared about his family and does not consider Earth his home.
Roy copies data gathered by the Lima Project team and persuades Clifford to accompany him back to Earth. He arms the bomb and they climb out on the station's outer hull to return to the ''Cepheus''. Clifford suddenly launches them into space using his spacesuit's thrusters. Clifford pleads for Roy to untether him; Roy reluctantly does so and watches his father drift away into space. Roy propels himself back to the ''Cepheus'' using his own spacesuit. Without enough fuel to return home, Roy relies on the shock wave from the nuclear explosion in the station to propel the ''Cepheus''. The data retrieved from the Lima Project base suggests that humans are the only intelligent life in the galaxy. Roy is inspired to reconnect with those closest to him and he returns to Earth with a newfound optimism. After expressing his opinions in a psychological evaluation, he re-joins his wife.
Cast
Production
Director James Gray first confirmed his plans to write and direct ''Ad Astra'' on May12, 2016, during the
2016 Cannes Film Festival
The 69th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2016. Australian director George Miller was the President of the Jury for the main competition. French actor Laurent Lafitte was the host for the opening and closing ceremonies. On 15 Marc ...
. In April 2017, while promoting ''
The Lost City of Z'', Gray compared the story of ''Ad Astra'' to
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...
's ''
Heart of Darkness
''Heart of Darkness'' (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. The novel ...
''. 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 July17, 2017.
On April 10, 2017, 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, and Donald Sutherland joined the cast.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
on the film began in mid-August 2017 in
Santa Clarita, California
Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...
, lasting 60 days.
Following poor initial test screenings, reshoots were conducted (although Pitt was unavailable), increasing the production budget from $80million to over $100million.
[ ]Charlie Kaufman
Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films ''Being John Malkovich'' (1999), ''Adaptation'' (2002), and ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (2004). He made his directorial de ...
provided an uncredited rewrite of the voice-over dialogue in the film. Gray did not have control over the film's final cut, which he told ''The Hollywood Reporter'' was "as painful a thing as I have experienced outside the death of a loved one."
The visual effects were by Moving Picture Company
The Moving Picture Company (MPC) is a multinational company providing visual effects, CGI, animation, motion design and other services for the film, TV, brand experience and advertising industries.
Their artists have produced Academy Award W ...
, Method Studios
Method Studios is a visual effects company launched in 1999 in Los Angeles, California with facilities in New York, Atlanta, Vancouver, San Francisco, Melbourne, Montreal, and Pune. The company provides production and post-production services in ...
, Mr. X, Weta Digital, Brainstorm Digital, and Capital T, and supervised by Allen Maris, Christopher Downs, Guillaume Rocheron
Guillaume Rocheron is a French visual effects supervisor who was born in 1981 in Paris. He began his career in 2000 at the Paris-based BUF Compagnie, and after five years there he got invited to work for the Moving Picture Company. He won the A ...
, Ryan Tudhope, Aidan Fraser, Olaf Wendt, Anders Langlands
Ander Langlands is a visual effects supervisor.
In 2016, he was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 88th Academy Awards for his work on the film '' The Martian''. His nomination was shared with Chris Lawrence, Richard Stammers, and Steven ...
, Eran Dinur, Jamie Hallett, and Territory Studio. Max Richter
Max Richter (; ; born 22 March 1966) is a German-born British composer and pianist. He works within postminimalist and contemporary classical styles. Richter is classically trained, having graduated in composition from the University of Edinbur ...
composed the film's score, with Lorne Balfe
Lorne Balfe (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish composer and record producer of film, television, and video game scores. A veteran of Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions, Balfe is known for his composing music for big-budget films like ...
later writing additional music. James Gray consulted with experimental film scholars Gregory Zinman and Leo Goldsmith for inspiration on the visuals.
Release
''Ad Astra'' had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
on August29, 2019. It was released on September20, 2019, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...
through its division 20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
. It had previously been scheduled for January11, 2019, and then for May24 before being pushed back.
''Ad Astra'' was released on digital and Movies Anywhere
Movies Anywhere (MA) is a cloud-based digital rights locker and over-the-top streaming platform that allows users to stream and download purchased films, including digital copies redeemed from codes found in home video releases as well as d ...
by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...
(through Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...
) on December3, 2019, with Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
, 4K Ultra HD
Ultra-high-definition television (also known as Ultra HD television, Ultra HD, UHDTV, UHD and Super Hi-Vision) today includes 4K UHD and 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an aspect ratio of 16:9. These were first proposed by ...
, and DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
releases following on December17.
Reception
Box office
''Ad Astra'' grossed $50.2 million in the United States and Canada and $85.2million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $135.4million against an estimated production budget of $80million.
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside ''Downton Abbey
''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on P ...
'' and '' Rambo: Last Blood'', and was projected to gross from 3,450 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $7.2million on its first day, including $1.5million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $19million, finishing second behind ''Downton Abbey''. The opening was compared to '' First Man'' (2018), another drama involving outer space which received high praise from critics but a lukewarm audience reception, resulting in a muted box office turnout despite its cast and budget. ''Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...
'' deduced the film would lose $30million off a projected $150million final worldwide gross (a figure it would ultimately fall short of). The film made $10.1million in its second weekend and $4.4million in its third, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''Ad Astra'' takes a visually thrilling journey through the vast reaches of space while charting an ambitious course for the heart of the bond between parent and child." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
, the film has a score of 80 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed at PostTrak
PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios.
History
The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film a ...
gave it an average 2.5 out of 5 stars, with 40% saying they would definitely recommend it.
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...
of the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, writing, "In the hands of director and co-writer James Gray, ''Ad Astra'' is one of the most beautiful films of the year, even when it makes little sense and even when Brad Pitt's performance veers between one of his all-time best and one of his all-time not-best." David Ehrlich of IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
gave the film an "A" and said, "''Ad Astra'' is one of the most ruminative, withdrawn, and curiously optimistic space epics this side of ''Solaris
Solaris may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film
* ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem
** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg
** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...
''. It's also one of the best." Similarly, Xan Brooks of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' gave the film five out of five stars, called it a "superb space-opera", and praised Pitt's performance, saying, "Pitt embodies McBride with a series of deft gestures and a minimum of fuss. His performance is so understated it hardly looks like acting at all."
''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' critic Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for ''Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...
praised Pitt's performance, explaining, "Gray proves beyond measure that he's got the chops to make a movie like this. He also has a vision, of sortsone that's expressed, nearly inadvertently, in the metaphor of that space antenna." Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' rated the film four out of five stars and referred to it as "absolutely enthralling" and praised Gray for his direction and his unique approach to the science fiction genre, as well as the cinematography and Pitt's performance (whom he referred to as "marvel of nuanced feeling"). He also drew comparisons of the film's tone and themes to other notable films set in space, particularly '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968), ''Solaris
Solaris may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film
* ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem
** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg
** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...
'' (1972), ''Gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
'' (2013), and '' Interstellar'' (2014). Critic Kurt Loder
Kurtis Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at ''Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that ''Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contribute ...
praised the visual effects but criticized the lack of originality and the patchwork style of the script. Adam Graham writing for ''The Detroit News
''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the '' Detroit Tribune'' on Februa ...
'' found problems with the film, giving it a "C" rating: "This is slow, obtuse filmmaking with little emotional connection."
Accolades
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Heart of Darkness
2019 films
20th Century Fox films
2010s adventure drama films
2010s science fiction adventure films
2010s science fiction drama films
American adventure drama films
American science fiction adventure films
American science fiction drama films
2010s English-language films
Films about astronauts
Films directed by James Gray
Films produced by Brad Pitt
Films scored by Max Richter
Films shot in Los Angeles
IMAX films
Mars in film
Moon in film
Neptune in film
Plan B Entertainment films
Regency Enterprises films
2019 drama films
Films about father–son relationships
TSG Entertainment films
Films produced by Arnon Milchan
2010s American films