The science fiction film Ad Astra (2019) is not the film James Gray originally wanted to make. According to the director, the project was “taken away from him” by the studio during the editing phase.
Studio gained more and more control
Gray spoke candidly at the Cannes Film Festival about his experiences producing Ad Astrathe 2019 space film starring Brad Pitt. According to the director, 20th Century Fox gained increasing control over the film, partly because the studio was taken over by Disney during that period.
6.5 Watch on Netflix • Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travels to the outer reaches of our solar system in search of his missing father.
Big changes
The filmmaker said that his own version of the film would ultimately have been twelve minutes shorter. Gray still hopes that his original version of Ad Astra can ever be released.
According to Gray, the film was heavily edited during editing. The studio is said to have insisted on additional scenes and a more accessible version of the story. Gray wanted to make a more artistic science fiction film. Despite the changes, the film received mostly positive responses.
New film at Cannes
Gray was involved in the production of his new film Paper Tiger (2026) has full creative control. The film shown at the Cannes Film Festival is a crime thriller starring Adam Driver (Marriage Story (2019), Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow (2021), Lost in Translation (2003)) in Miles Teller (Whiplash (2014), Top Gun: Maverick (2022)).
6.9
Two brothers strive for the American dream, but become entangled in a dangerous Russian mafia system that terrorizes their family.
