"Ad Astra: Towards the Stars", a production directed by Jame Gray and starring Brad Pitt, shows a chilling yet sincere proposal about what the future of space travel could be.
The film tells the story of astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt), who travels to the outer limits of the solar system to find his lost father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will unveil secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.
The film will be released in Peruvian theaters on October 10th, and here are some interesting facts about the movie:
1. Director, producer, and writer James Gray recalls that inspiration came to him when he was reading about Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi, known as the architect of the Nuclear Age, who believed there was a 90% chance that the southwestern United States would be destroyed when the atom could be split for the first time.
2. James Gray was inspired by Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and the movie "Apocalypse Now," as well as the Apollo and Mercury missions.
3. James Gray and his classmate Ethan Gross wrote the story for "AD ASTRA."
4. The character of Clifford McBride was inspired by the character of Moby Dick, who was obsessed with the white whale, just as Clifford is obsessed with finding extraterrestrial life and being the first person to discover life outside our planet.
5. In 2016, Brad Pitt agreed to be the protagonist and produce the film with his production company Plan B, which provided the financing and distribution with 20th Century Fox.
6. Retired astronaut Garrett Reisman, who flew on 2 space shuttle missions to the International Space Station in 2008 and 2010, was one of the sources for obtaining information about space travel. He was present during the production of those scenes and spent time with the director during the scriptwriting process.
7. Aerospace engineer Robert Yowell, a 30-year veteran of the space program, started in 1989 as an engineer at NASA, read the script, and gave some suggestions.
8. For most of the sets representing Earth, the Moon, Mars, and Neptune, the filmmakers chose to shoot on location rather than on sets.
9. Locations included an abandoned department store in downtown Los Angeles that used to house the Red Line train station. The giant tunnel that was there became the underground of Mars where Roy escapes to board the Cepheus to reach the Lima project.
10. The costumes were based on the book titled "Moonfire," which has images of Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins showing how engineers dress, with turtlenecks and short-sleeved plaid shirts. Albert Wolsky, a 5-time Oscar nominee, was in charge of costume design.
