Ad Astra (film)

Ad Astra is a 2019 science fiction film, directed by James Gray and written by Gray and 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 the next year. 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. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for Pitt's performance. It underperformed at the box office, grossing $135.2 million against an $80–100 million budget. At the 92nd Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Sound Mixing.