A new sci-fi movie called “Ad Astra” is heading to theaters on September 20, and it’s got some amazing star power behind it, including Brad Pitt in the lead role. It also brings Liv Tyler back to the space-epic genre, after her excellent roles in both 1998’s “Armageddon” and the lesser-known but still wonderful “Space Station 76.” But most importantly, it looks like a space-based adventure thrill ride that isn’t also the 183rd installment of a Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise flick.
In the trailer, Brad Pitt plays an astronaut who is apparently tasked with saving all life in the universe — with the twist that it looks like he’ll be saving it from his father, Tommy Lee Jones, also an astronaut and one who undertook a mission to somehow discover the secrets of a mystery material with tremendous potential power.
Based on this trailer, we can expect Brad Pitt to begrudgingly undertake a mission set to him by Donald Sutherland to fly out into space and track down his long-missing father (Jones) for a face-off of some kind — but there are plenty of potential twists and turns for this to take, and I’ll bet it ends up somewhere less weird than something like “Interstellar,” but probably much more interesting and bizarre than the “blow up the rock” simplicity of “Armageddon.” Plus, the setting looks like a potentially wonderful near-future, realistic hard sci-fi backdrop. Can’t wait to check this one out.