Show of hands: who would want to be confined in a space ship with Brad Pitt? And Tommy Lee Jones? While we can imagine a fair few hands flying up at the idea of the Pittster, we'd imagine a lesser turnout to be subjected to Jones' legendary grumpiness at close quarters. Still, both are headed into on-screen space for what is currently known as Ad Astra.
Director James Gray co-wrote the script with Ethan Gross, and while most of the details of the sci-fi film are being kept in a soundless vacuum, Deadline has ferreted out a few nuggets of information, albeit ones that could evolve during the movie's journey to the screen. The plot apparently sees space engineer Roy McBride (Pitt) heading out into the solar system 20 years after his father (Jones) left on a one-way mission to Neptune, aiming to find signs of extra-terrestrial intelligence. Now Roy is looking to track down what happened to his father, with the script apparently boasting a Heart Of Darkness-in-space vibe.
This marks the third time that Gray has looked to have Pitt star in one of his movies, the most recently attempt, The Lost City Of Z ended with the actor merely producing the film. But assuming he can keep him on board by the time shooting kicks off in September, it should work out this time.
Pitt has more movies bubbling away as producer than actor, though he is still trying to get the World War Z sequel made, with David Fincher recently (and surprisingly) signing on to direct. As for Jones, he'll be seen in Shock And Awe and Villa Capri.