I am not sure what is going on with 20th Century Fox/Disney’s upcoming James Gray-directed “Ad Astra” —an arthouse sci-fi movie, which is supposed to open on May 24th. Many of the film journalists that create buzz around a film will probably be at Cannes between 5.10 thru, at the very least, 5.12, so when can Gray’s film actually screen locally for that press corp? A week before its release? Not a legitimate plan to create buzz.
From what I have heard, the post-production team has been way behind on the effects for the film. It is unusual to see Disney tagged on such a risky project, but here we are. And, by all accounts, it’s not like Gray's films are Oscar-bait vehicles; he's a lone-wolf who goes by his own creative juices. The fact that it didn’t show up within the Cannes lineup was because, again, according to sources, the special effects just weren’t ready. Who knows. They can’t give that excuse anymore. The movie is being released in 3 weeks.
Last we heard from Gray he had given us his 2017 film "The Lost City of Z," a beautiful, dreamy and ambitious project which had some meandering parts, but the overall impact was stunningly surreal, mainly due to its incredible jungle-set sequences.
“Ad Astra” is about Astronaut Roy McBride’s travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet (Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga).