Ad Astra - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Ad Astra or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Ad Astra

[ethel]

At the 19:25 mark Tommy Lee Jones can be seen wearing the exact same space outfit as he did in 'Space Cowboys' (2000). The only difference is the top two patches have been digitally altered to fit the Space Comm suits in Ad Astra.

[bryan]

Tommy Lee Jones is actually only 16 years older than Brad Pitt.

[maureen]

Jamie Kennedy's role was cut from the final film.

[caroline]

When astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) arrives on Mars and enters the base it can be seen that a graffiti tag is made on the wall behind him; after he is granted permission to proceed to the interior.

[jesus]

As same as his character in 'Space Cowboys' (2000), Tommy Lee Jones' character finally faces his own death as an alone astronaut in outer space.

[violet]

Brad Pitt in Ad Astra is the 8th cast member from the Ocean's series to appear in an outer space movie; Don Cheadle in Mission to Mars (2000), George Clooney in Solaris (2002) and with Sandra Bullock in Gravity (2013), Andy Garcia in Passengers, Matt Damon in The Martian (2015) and with Anne Hathaway and Casey Affleck in Interstellar (2014) .

[mathew]

It was scheduled for release on May 24, 2019, but the premiere showing at the Cannes film fest was canceled and there are rumors that the opening may be delayed due to the Fox-Disney merger.

[camila]

While shooting the climactic scene, Brad Pitt ended up crying unprompted in character. But as the scene takes place in zero-g, Pitt told director James Gray that the tear should be edited in post to float like a bubble off his face, rather than run down his cheek. "You gotta replace my tear, that's not how it works in zero-gravity," Pitt reportedly said, to which Gray responded, "I'm sorry, I'm keeping it. The acting's too good, buddy."

[carla]

Brad Pitt and James Gray originally planned to collaborate on adapting Mark Greaney's novel "The Gray Man", but Pitt later dropped out and the project never finalized. This marks the third time they plan to work together (second time on The Lost City of Z (2016), and the first time they really do as director and actor.

[charlie]

Director James Gray admitted to Empire magazine that he had to compromise with the studio on the ending of the movie to get the film green-lit and even with a major star/producer like Brad Pitt on board they still struggled for years to get it made.

[jesse]

Brad Pitt and Ruth Negga previously co-starred in World War Z (2013).

[ken]

The first collaboration between Brad Pitt and James Gray. They planned to work together on The Lost City of Z (2016), but Pitt dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. He remained on board as an executive producer.

[jessica]

The title means "to the stars" in Latin. It is often used as a shorthand for "Per Aspera Ad Astra" (Through the hardships to the Stars).

[bessie]

The proposed engine used by Pitts craft to reach Neptune is a theoretical electric propulsion engine. This explains how the craft is able to travel to Neptune without the need for fuel as the fuel is provided by solar arrays.

[nicholas]

The film reunites Donald Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones and Loren Dean who previously appeared in Space Cowboys (2000).

[beth]

During a September 2019 interview on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," director and cowriter James Gray said that he created his own playlist for himself to listen to through his headphones as he was directing the movie. Among the works on that playlist were: electronic drones by Eliane Radigue, sitar music by Ravi Shankar, the Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg; The Planets by Gustav Holst, the fourth movement of "The Rothko Chapel" by Morton Feldman, music by Krzysztof Penderecki, and electromagnetic wave transmissions from outer space, including from the planet Jupiter. Gray also played some of these for the cast and crew to communicate a mood during filming.

[caroline]

Director James Gray has said it will feature "the most realistic depiction of space travel that's been put in a movie." He's also described it as "Sorta like, if you got 'Apocalypse Now' and '2001' in a giant mash-up and you put a little [Joseph] Conrad in there."

[sandra]

At an altitude of 300NM from earth, and depicting a low oblique angle toward Florida, any rocket launched into this shot under any semblance of atmospheric thrust (exhibiting a trail) would be for achieving orbit, and be clearly horizontal (on plane with the earth's surface) unlike the clearly erroneous trajectory shown in the second act of the film.

[linda]

This is not the first time Greg Bryk plays a Martian. He's also in The Expanse as Lt. Lopez, an officer of the Martian Congressional Navy in the show's first season.